I haven’t read much of the canon—Poe, Wordsworth, 1984, Animal Farm, Dickens, Fahrenheit 51—these names ring bells, but I have never read them. When scholars or fellow English-majors hear this, they often look at me with disbelieving eyes asking “how have you not read [insert novel written by straight white man here]!?” with an air of elitism. And the truth is that I have no desire to read most of them—much less teach most of them. I feel like this may be controversial and I don’t mean it to be. I’m just wondering if I’m alone in this mindset.
(I’m sure these is value to these texts, but I also think there is equal value in other, more diverse, and current texts)
I’m on the same boat as you!! In fact, many canonical texts were inspired by other world literature that was written at a much earlier date. It’s unfortunate that most canonical texts have overpowered these amazing, diverse voices.