Women and The Mini-Canon Overcoming Tokenism in Literary Theory

Research Articles: “Feminism and the Canon” by Pamela Hall. Journal of Philosophy, Vol. 88, No. 10, Oct.1991

Thesis The idea and acceptance of a male dominated canon should be abolished and replaced with a series of mini-canons representing society’s diversity. Literature from these mini-canons should be taught equally, without prejudice, in order to eliminate tokenism, and to permit all an equal opportunity to contribute to “the best that has been said and written.”

The Dominated Canon The Norton Anthology: in the 1974 edition of the Norton Anthology, there were eighty-four authors. Only eight of these were women. This serves as primary example of tokenism in literature.

Tokenism Tokenism is an issue that lay within our current canon. Tokenism is when we include a limited number of minority authors in order to fulfill a requirement.

Why Women and Minorities are Tokens in Literature Men have been dominating the literary scene for centuries. Thus, we have been conditioned toward judging literature against a standard that men have established. Women and minorities contribute ideas and experiences that may differ from men’s. The literary philosophy of women, for instance, may differ from men’s.

Don’t mini-canons promote tokenism? We may ask ourselves if we are only including the study of a specific author or piece based on a certain requirement. Because the identification of what “is any good” as far as literature is concerned is difficult to prove, how can we objectively include minorities on the basis that they are “good” if we are judging them soley by the standards of asnother group?.

Thus, it is vital to establish mini-canons, each with its own literary standards, so we each may learn differing ways to classify literature, and to expand our own minds. It is only then, when we come to understand individual cultures more, that we can serve to interpret and ultimately judge their literature. We can only do this by taking opportunity to study them.

Why is diversity important in the literary canon? It has been argued that the purpose of the canon is to be didactic. Thus, it should not represent only men, for others have plenty to teach. It is important to attempt to relate to females and minorities, and to study their perspectives

Mini-Canons Some argue that the formulation of mini- canons only serves to ostracise minorities. It does to an extent. Yet it also serves to give a definite voice to many authors, within their own canon, instead of just a few tokens within the male dominated canon. Futhermore, it is the equal teaching and attention to each mini canon that may assist in obtaining a more well-rounded curriculum.

It is important, then, to develop mini canons, not to the standards of “dead white men”, but to include each group’s standards. Women should determine who best represents them in literature, and it should be presented not as abnormal, but as an addition to men’s contributions.

“Feminism and the Canon” by Pamela Hall Says that “…on grounds of truth, if feminist thought can contest or even refute what is not the best in the tradition, so much the better. It may be one of the distinct contributions of feminist thought…it teaches us about what we have assumed to heretofore, that it uncovers what has been buried, for bad or good, within accepted wisdom.”

From “African and African American Literature” Letters to the editor