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S. A. Tullock. "America Will Be!" - The Importance of Literature and History in Teaching Patriotism to Children
УДК 37.017.4
S. A. Tullock
"AMERICA WILL BE!" - THE IMPORTANCE OF LITERATURE AND HISTORY IN TEACHING PATRIOTISM TO CHILDREN
Статья посвящена теме патриотического воспитания в Соединенных Штатах Америки в XXI веке. Автор описывает актуальное состояние проблемы патриотизма и раскрывает вопросы обучения американских детей уважению своей страны через литературу и историю. С этой целью рассматривается стихотворение американского поэта Лэнгстона Хью-за «Пусть Америка снова станет собой!».
The article deals with patriotism in the United States of America in the XXI century. The modern tendencies of patriotic education are revealed as well as the issue of teaching American children to respect their own country by discussing literature and history. To reinforce this idea the poem "Let America Be America Again" by the American poet Langston Hughes is thoroughly considered.
Ключевые слова: США, патриотизм, история, литература, Лэнгстон Хьюз.
Keywords: the USA, patriotism, history, literature, Langston Hughes.
In the United States, the term "patriotism" has become a malleable concept to be used at the whims of politicians and pundits seeking to persuade the American people to believe in a certain ideology. We can no longer rely on these figures to define what a "patriot" is simply because their definitions seem rather self-serving. It is difficult to look at such a diverse nation and provide a unifying definition, when some who supported an invasion of Afghanistan and Iraq in the first decade of the 21st century call themselves "lovers of freedom," whereas those who vehemently opposed the invasions call themselves the "real patriots." So when dealing with such an amorphous, polemical, and ideologically-charged term, how are we supposed to instill the next generation of Americans with a feeling of patriotism? The answer is and always has been a close and honest study of history and literature. If we citizens of the United States, and citizens of the world, are to move forward in the 21st century with the help of the next generation, we must look backward at our legacy and our mistakes first in order to light the way for our potential as a nation.
I first realized literature's importance in teaching history and patriotism only at university once I had begun studying Russian literature. In high school, we read great works of American literature by Mark Twain, Ernest Hemingway, William Faulkner, Walt
© Tullock S. A., 2012
Whitman, and many others. However, while these novels and poems were certainly impressive, I never felt myself connected with them in any way, not even with Twain or Faulkner whose writings about the South should have been very poignant for someone who grew up on the very land being described. And while I enjoyed the stories of Huck Finn and Tom Sawyer, and while their historical significance was not lost on me, their "Americanness" and their relationship to me and my countrymen was not deeply stressed.
When I read Pushkin, Lermontov, Tolstoy, and others simultaneously with learning Russian culture and language, I saw how literature could create an indelible link between the words on the page and the feelings of pride and compatriotism. I also read in Solzhenitsyn's and Shalamov's works the betrayal that writers could feel from their own motherland. Indeed, Russian literature holds an enormously important place in Russian culture, one possibly unequaled anywhere else in the world. It is more than great art [1]. It is also the keystone of Russian identity. It is venerated along with war heroes and cosmonauts as defining features of Russia's greatness. The role of literature in Russian culture cannot be overstated.
In the U. S., our classics are not elevated to such a status and do not receive such widespread respect and honor. The basic tenets of life and identity are not written in novels and poems, and children do not read them and learn them by heart. Instead, we take to memorizing the Preamble of the Declaration of Independence and Amendments of the Constitution. For Americans, these are our most sacred and important documents. We read what the founding fathers wanted to create, learn them, commit them to memory, and later use them in polarizing debates on whether conservatives or liberals, Republicans or Democrats have understood it correctly. While it is certainly important to understand one's country's historical documents, especially one such as the Constitution of the United States, literature has a manifold role to play in interpreting the resulting nation and one that must be reinforced as well with children in school.
The title of this article is taken from a 1938 poem by Langston Hughes entitled "Let America be America Again". Hughes was an important figure in what is known as the Harlem Renaissance, a surge of African-American literature, music, art, and culture in the 1920s in New York City. Many figures of this time were black people who were for the first time making a decent wage, living in urban societies, and becoming educated like their white counterparts had throughout early American history. Hughes was a member of a group who had never known the "American Dream" or the freedom of "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness" as is enumerated in
Дискуссионная площадка «Ребенок в современном мире. Дети и Родина»
our Declaration of Independence. These were the basic tenets of American life, and it had taken nearly 100 years for African-Americans to become free citizens.
Hughes's poem begins as a call to action [2]: Let America be America again. Let it be the dream it used to be. Let it be the pioneer on the plain Seeking a home where he himself is free.
(America never was America to me.)
Let America be the dream the dreamers dreamed -Let it be that great strong land of love Where never kings connive nor tyrants scheme That any man be crushed by one above.
(It never was America to me.)
O, let my land be a land where Liberty Is crowned with no false patriotic wreath, But opportunity is real, and life is free, Equality is in the air we breathe.
(There's never been equality for me, Nor freedom in this "homeland of the free.") The voice in parentheses that interrupts Hughes's idealized view of America's potential turns out to be "the poor white... the Negro... the red man... the immigrant... the young man. the farmer. the worker. the people". It serves to remind the dreaming patriot of the real challenges America has had to face. "Yet", the voice says, "I'm the one who dreamt our basic dream."
Here, Hughes is able to fuse past and present, dream and reality to paint the true history of the United States. The U. S. has always been a dream for those seeking a better life, a place where social mobility was promised, and where freedom is the basis of all morality. Yet Hughes points his finger directly at all the injustices and shortcomings in America's history. It is precisely this that we must teach our children in schools and at home. America's history is far from perfect. It falls short of its dream of absolute freedom. It falls short of its dream of true democracy. It falls short of being a "city on a hill" for others to see and follow. We should not and cannot be content with what we are today. Only through critical analysis and critical views of our imperfection may we strive forward. He continues [3]:
O, let America be America again -The land that never has been yet -And yet must be - the land where every man is free. The land that's mine - the poor man's, Indian's, Negro's, ME -
Who made America,
Whose sweat and blood, whose faith and pain,
Whose hand at the foundry, whose plow in the rain,
Must bring back our mighty dream again.
Here Hughes illuminates the poems richness for all who read it. If the poem is written from Hughes point of view, then he talks directly about himself, someone who is underprivileged in society, whose ancestors quite literally gave their sweat and blood to create a country that they were not free to live in. Although the story and atrocities of slavery are well known to us all, the message of hope feels all the more poignant coming from a poet who fifty years before had none of the freedom he speaks of. Indeed, this same message of hope and belief in possibility is part of what propelled Barack Obama, the nation's first African-American president, into the White House.
If the poem is to be read from our point of view, however, it is a call to action for each of us to contribute to the society to which we belong. This is one of the most important messages for children of the modern era. In the 21st century, the future for political activism and free democracy, a keystone of American life, seems bleak with the influence of money on politics. With a two-party system in which both sides are deeply entrenched and refuse to compromise, it seems hopeless to imagine making our way out unscathed. However, again turning to history and literature we see how Hughes calls his fellow countrymen to action and how forty years later, the African-Americans who marched on Washington, D. C. with Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. demanded that they be treated as equal human beings. Later, Lyndon B. Johnson signed into law the Civil Rights Act of 1964 which was a giant step in bringing Langston Hughes's dream to life.
Although Hughes is highly critical of America in his poem, it is also fiercely patriotic. Hughes's words in his poem are not nanve. He even calls America "[t]he land that has never been yet". His patriotism is not rooted in the glories of America, either military or otherwise. They are instead rooted in its failures and mistakes, for it is in our mistakes that we may measure how far we still have to go. Being a patriot often entails recognizing the shortcomings of one's nation instead of lavishing endless praise on its victories. In the U. S., those who criticize are sometimes labeled as "non-patriotic" by some in the media because they do not mindlessly support a certain party or cause. In fact, this is what makes a democracy possible. Even in disagreement, respect toward others views creates dialogue, and dialogue leads to evolution. As long as we stay focused on the goals of the founding fathers, yet mindful of our present situation, this evolution should lead to a freer and more just society. Thus, criticism should and must accompany patriotism if we are not to disintegrate into blind followers akin to those in Nazi Germany.
К. С. Бажин, Г. И. Симонова, Е. А. Ходырева. Анализ готовности молодых ученых к реализации.
Hughes is able to address both historical and modern concerns in America at once. He addresses civil rights, one of America's great struggles throughout its history which appears all the more blatantly in contrast with the language of the founding documents. We as a country have made great progress, especially in the 20th century, to right the wrongs that we once perpetuated, such as those that Hughes points to in his poem. Yet we are constantly struggling with new issues, new problems, and new ways of understanding people that we once considered taboo or outside of the realm of consideration.
For this reason I believe that a proper understanding of our history must be found not only in textbooks, which is often a dry recollection of facts, but also in literature with its narrative capabilities and fiery emotions. Furthermore, literature allows its reader to see the world through another's eyes, to feel and empathize with real emotions, and to think in ways which are different from textbook analyses of historical events. Langston Hughes's poem is an outstanding example of how literature and history fuse together to shed light on what it means to be a citizen of a particular society.
Of course, it is nanve to consider literature the panacea of modern society's ailments. Those who read literature can just as easily use it for their nationalistic aims as those for more democratic aims (again, consider Hitler and Goethe or Nietzsche). History likewise can be interpreted and manipulated. But placing more emphasis on literature in the American classroom, giving the men of letters their place to tell the history of America in their own terms, would create new, fresh dialogue that could give us new understanding of ourselves in the historical and the modern sense.
Although this article relates to America and American history and poetry, it can easily be applied to any country in the world seeking its way forward into the future. The 21st century is a century of practically no boundaries. Whether through new advances in communication, faster travel, and access to information, it will be easier to integrate into the world community than ever before. It is our responsibility to teach not only patriotism and pride in one's heritage, but also open-mindedness and respect toward others. We must remind ourselves of what being a "patriot" really means and what we want it to mean. Being a patriot is being proud of one's country, and to be proud, people must work to make it something to be proud of. We must listen to the voices of the past but act and live in the present in the ever-changing and evolving world. Literature is one of the great touchstones of both pride and open-mindedness simultaneously and must be used to foster both in young people. History, likewise, is a powerful tool in teaching where we come from and where we are going as a nation. We must look back together as a nation at our entire history,
both at the good and bad, in order to progress forward and achieve our goals.
Примечания
1. Туллок С. А. К вопросу об использовании музыки в преподавании английского языка в России // Актуальные проблемы совершенствования преподавания иностранных языков в свете личностно-дея-тельностной парадигмы: материалы II Междунар. науч.-практ. конф., посвященной 70-летию ф-та лингвистики ВятГГУ, г. Киров, 17-18 ноября 2011 года / [отв. ред. С. С. Куклина]. Киров : Изд-во ВятГГУ, 2011. С. 180.
2. Hughes L. Let America Be America Again. URL : http://www.poets.org/viewmedia.php/prmMID/15609 (дата обращения : 16.05.2012)
3. Ibid.
УДК 378.126
К. С. Бажин, Г. И. Симонова, Е. А. Ходырева
АНАЛИЗ ГОТОВНОСТИ МОЛОДЫХ УЧЕНЫХ К РЕАЛИЗАЦИИ ПСИХОЛОГО-ПЕДАГОГИЧЕСКОЙ ДЕЯТЕЛЬНОСТИ С ДЕТЬМИ В СОВРЕМЕННЫХ УСЛОВИЯХ (ПО ИТОГАМ МЕЖДУНАРОДНОЙ МОЛОДЕЖНОЙ КОНФЕРЕНЦИИ)
В статье приводится анализ результатов анкетирования молодых ученых по проблемам педагогики и психологии детства, реализованного в рамках международной молодежной конференции.
The article is an analysis of the survey results of young scientists on pedagogy and psychology of childhood, which is implemented in the framework of the international youth conference.
Ключевые слова: детство, гражданственность, патриотизм, молодые ученые, психолого-педагогическая деятельность, анкетирование.
Keywords: prestige pedetstvo, citizenship, patriotism, young scientists, psycho-pedagogical activities анкетирование.дагогическая profession students
В современных социальных условиях существенно изменяется трактовка феномена «детства». Каким образом молодые ученые, студенты, преподаватели российских и зарубежных вузов понимают различные его аспекты? Какие технологии обучения и воспитания, в том числе воспитания патриотизма у детей, в образовательном процессе являются наиболее эффективными?
В апреле 2012 г. ФГБОУ ВПО «Вятский государственный гуманитарный университет» был при-
© Бажин К. С., Симонова Г. И., Ходырева Е. А., 2012
