Pointless quarrels and the true objectives of the teaching of literature in France

Abstract

We discuss here the issues involved in the controversy that agitated France in 2000, when teachers, students, government, and society at large gathered around two opposing opinions about the teaching of literature: the new teaching against the classical cursus. In the present essay the situation is examined from a historical perspective, and challenges are identified that are fundamental both for literature and for its teaching, trying to devise to what extent those two camps contribute to a discussion that is urgent today throughout the Western world. The much publicized "crisis" of the teaching of French is discussed based on the argument that the "crisis" is today as it has always been, and as it still shall be, since the mentalities do not evolve at the same pace as the institutional reforms, laws, programs, and official instructions that strive to govern them. To argue for such position, an investigation is made, in the history of French teaching, of the moments of "crisis", their reasons and solutions. Always focusing on the literature, we finally discuss the changes occurred in the teaching during the 1970s, which gave origin to the alterations proposed by the new official documents, at the heart of the controversy that still rages among intellectuals. The text concludes by defending that we should be aware of the existing tensions, aiming at a common understanding and not to the clinging to extreme positions, which are incapable of finding solutions to the problem.