I think that the hardest thing is for someone to be able to not only articulate their voice, but be confident in what they say. We live in a society where paradoxically Americans advocate free speech, but individuals are continually demanding that we silence the opinion and independent thought of our young adults. They are taught to fear their voice, and we as scholars in academics are shaped to believe that an independent voice in writing is wrong.
Academically, I have been trying to find balance with my own voice and what is traditionally acceptable in scholarly writing. I want to be honest and real about the things that I like to write about such as race, gender, and sexism. But sometimes that becomes difficult, especially when I have to sensor how I would say certain things.
It is obviously a problem that many writers have had to overcome, and I am still trying to strike a balance between the expectations that are inherent in scholarly work. I think that first we must continue to critique and reinvent the English cannon. Opening spaces and allowing people to express their thoughts freely without judgment rules and social norms. I think it is when people are trying to be careful and silence their voice that as participants in society we begin to cultivate this intolerance for others’ ideas, beliefs and opinions.
1 comment:
Crystal,
I agree with you that it is very challenging to teach students to articulate their ideas in their own voices with confidence. With my freshman writers this semester, some of the best ideas I have seen are put forward in the most tentative voice. We are taught not to shake things up and anything different must be phrased cautiously so as not to attract criticism. I think that reinventing the cannon may be helpful in the short term but in the long run will only change what the established voice is, something different but still limiting. I don’t know what exactly could replace the cannon but something should.
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