by Logan Goh
Sean, a senior this year, is the last person that you would associate with literature. He is 180 centimeters tall and huge like a younger version of Arnold Schwarzenegger in “Conan the Barbarian.” “People look at me and think that I am an engineering student,” he confessed. However, he is indeed a student of DFLL, and what is more, he likes literature. When asked whether he thinks that studying literature is impractical, he surprised me (again) by saying, “I think it is the most practical of all subjects. Because, after some years, you will start to perceive things that otherwise you wouldn’t have noticed. I’m glad that I chose this department.” Sean is probably one of the very few exceptions who take literature seriously. On the other hand, my classmate, Jill, often feels confused about studying literature. “I’m a junior right now, and, of course, everyone has to consider their future career. When I study literature, I often ask myself: Is this useful? How am I going to use this? Can I use it as a tool or something?” she explained. Jill seems to be a model that is easier to identify with. Which side do you belong to? The Incredibles: DFLL students One hundred years ago, Mark Twain had already declared the awkward situation of literature. He cynically defined a literary classic as “something that everybody wants to have read and nobody wants to read.” As a DFLL student, of course, I cannot help but disagree with him. A more precise definition should go like this: “A classic is something that everybody wants to have read, but only the incredible DFLL students are willing to blow off the dust from the cover to read.” DFLL has always been the last and only fortress of western literatures in NTU. While other “normal” college students are busy using the BBS, dating, or clubbing, some of us bury our heads in the brick-like Norton Anthology and wander around the wonderland constructed by Homer, Chaucer, Shakespeare, etc. Nonetheless, how poetic do you think DFLL students are? Do they really enjoy doing what they are doing? What is their happiness index? In order to find the answers, I have carried out a survey with the help of several professors to explore the literary preferences of DFLL students. Moreover, it is also time to examine whether the department is still able to fulfill the needs of students in the changing world. The majority of students like literature During the suffocating mid-term exam week, I managed to “conspire” with several professors in the department to distribute survey questionnaires to students along with the exam papers. About two hundred sheets of questionnaires were given out, and 146 of them were answered and handed in. Hence, the students surveyed are about one forth of the approximately five hundred students in our department. The classes surveyed were carefully chosen to make sure that both literary courses and language-oriented courses are included. Surprisingly, statistics (Chart 1) show that 50% of the students surveyed are interested in western literature, while only 4% of the students are not. As for the other 47% percent, they are sitting on the fence and remain uncertain. Although 50% is a high percentage, our department chair said, in response to these numbers, “I think there are only about 10% who really take literature seriously. By that I mean they intend to pursue literary studies in the future.” DFLL students are split into two halves in terms of their literary preferences. Liberal education vs. vocational education The high percentage of “not sure” replies reflects East Asian cultural values, which tend to stress moderation. However, it can also be interpreted as the uncertainty in the hearts of many DFLL students. As the tide of capitalism sweeps across the entire world, literature, like many other humanities subjects, inevitably falls into the category of “impractical.” Literature is “impractical” simply because it cannot be used to produce a physical product, and frankly, a major in literature doesn’t look quite as sexy on a resume as one in law or accounting. Hence, DFLL students always need to confront a strong inner conflict, which is the tension between capitalism and humanism. In a larger context, DFLL students are also torn between the spirit of liberal education and that of vocational education. Under the influence of capitalist globalization, many universities are facing the unavoidable trend of “vocationalization,” in which universities have become factories producing “robots” that fit into the need of the massive corporations. God’s love rejected For the convenience of the survey, western literature was divided into five categories: poetry, fiction, drama, creative writing, and literary theory. As expected, fiction is the most popular genre of all. People always like to listen to stories. So do DFLL students. On the contrary, literary theory is voted as the least favorite. “Literary theory requires students to make maximal use of their reasoning ability, but most people prefer not to do so,” said Prof. Chang Han-liang. “Our students have not been properly trained, because the necessary courses haven’t been offered.” Interestingly, the preferences in different genres of western literature are similar whether the students are freshmen or seniors (chart 3). The favorite works selected by the students differ tremendously, however, from J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter to Ovid’s Metamorphoses. But students seem a good deal more focused in their distaste. Many of the DFLL students surveyed, freshmen in particular, hate the Bible. “Everything will be fine without the Bible,” a student added. In response to the great hostility toward the Bible, Prof. Chiang Tai-fen explained, “My purpose is to let the students experience or feel the essence of western people. So they have to understand how western people view the Bible whether they believe the Bible or not.” Literature and Language are the same As anticipated, a few students surveyed wished to have more “practical” English courses. It is not at all surprising, because language is a useful tool in finding a job. Nonetheless, language and literature are viewed by some people as, in fact, inseparable. “They are not two classes. To me, they are the same. Through literature, you improve your English,” the chair, Prof. Chiu Chin-jung, emphasized. A student surveyed moves a step further by suggesting the department divide students into language and literature groups during the junior or senior year, but Sean, the literature-lover, thinks that it is “a bad idea.” He said, “When you study a foreign language, it all comes down eventually to literature. You can’t separate these two things. It’s not just learning a language. You have to have something to talk about. Studying literature is the only way to make your conversation full of content. I think the idea of a Department of Applied English is ridiculous!” a
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The Taida Student Journal has been active since 1995 with an ever-changing roster of student journalists at NTU. Click the above link to read about the authors Archives
May 2024
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