Postcolonial Literature in the Language Classroom

Abstract: This thesis is inspired by my own experiences with the lack of cultural diversity in teachers’ choices of English literature in the upper secondary language classroom. The essay is going to highlight teacher’s tendencies of neglecting postcolonial literature. Furthermore, this essay aims to problematize the imbalance in the choices of authors and books used when teaching postcolonial literature. My argument is that the western canon and authors tend to dominate literature lessons and students seldom get the opportunity to familiarize themselves with not only postcolonial literature, but postcolonial literature written by “the other”, that is, authors from former colonies. In this essay, I conclude that teachers need to broaden their horizons when choosing books to teach in the language classroom. Through extensive reading of Jamaica Kincaid’s essay A Small Place, the goal is to illustrate how teachers can challenge the canon and also to discuss the many benefits of including postcolonial literature by writers who might offer a different version of historical events than the standard Western version. It is worth mentioning that the goal is not to claim that authors from former colonies are to be preferred when teaching postcolonial literature. My suggestion and conclusion is that teachers should revise and question the canon and come to terms with the fact that variation is key in the language classroom for better learning outcome.