The Myth of the Canon

In literature it is Milton, Shakespeare, Dickens, Hawthorne, Melville, Tolstoy, Hemingway among many others. In art it is DaVinci, Rembrandt, Monet, Duchamp, Picasso, etc. For music we find Bach, Mozart, Beethoven, Brahms, and in extreme cases Stravinsky. We are discussing the canon, an established program of study based on those works deemed the highest of academic excellence. In the study of History as a subject we tend to look at the events through the lens of governments and rulers rather than the people. This is not due to a lack of compassion for people but rather an awareness that rulers can make dramatic decisions that affect individual lives. Yet in spite of an emphasis on governments we are also acutely aware of how achievements by successful people can shape the future of our lives. We are often so connected to the past that to ignore it is to be unfair to the present. As I type on this computer, I give thought to the microchip, the transistor, the telephone and telegraph, and electricity, all of which make today on this computer possible. In fact, we could trace the computer back to one of the greatest inventions in history, the printing press.

In thinking these thoughts of the past and the present, I am gainfully charged by the study of history, a look at the past, an acknowledgment of great people, an acceptance of their contributions to the world. It is humbling and energizing to consider the truths found in Shakespeare or Theodore Dreiser, to look upon the beauty of Rembrandt, and to hear the line and form in Mozart. We learn from the masters and we benefit from knowing the truths of past. The past cannot be separated from the present and without the contributions of both the governments and the individuals we would not be who we are today collectively or singularly.

Knowing this truth and acknowledging the greatness of art, of literature, of music that has withstood the test of time, I have to question the permanent residence that the establishment of the canon has brought to our culture. For some reason, perhaps due to history, judgment, scholarship, or simply tradition, we in academia have decided that the established canon of literature, art, and music should never alter, should remain in concrete forever. Rather than studying the canon, respecting it, learning from it, we have made it the end result.

"You, my young student, need to know John Milton so that you may gain from and perhaps imitate John Milton and go out and become a new John Milton." "This is Monet, you should love his work, perhaps paint as Monet painted, now go become another Monet." Or "This is Brahms, a master composer for sure, here is his music. Love it, perform it, copy it, and become as Brahms (if you can)." We teach the great literature and art because we love it and desire for others to love it and live it as well. We teach the finest example of our discipline as a way to demonstrate our own concept of excellence as determined by critics, by audiences, by a general acceptance, by the passing of time. And there is no question that Brahms is worth studying, including his life, his use of rhythmic accents, his harmonic invention, his ability to create variations, and his unequaled musical developments.

But if we are to progress in art and in culture, if we are forge ahead, to plant new crops, to innovate, to create and make the arts vital in our world, we must let go of the necessity to make the canon the goal for our students. The established literature, similar to learning history, is without question necessary for knowing the foundations of our disciplines; and having a solid core of knowledge and a framework for our society is paramount for developing the future. Rather than abolishing the work of the masters, we should and do embrace it, applying its truths and its beauty in all we do in literature, in art, and in music. The canon, however, for all its majesty and essential value, must become a springboard for diving into the artistic future, for to dive into the past is to find stagnant water filled with old algae and old efforts. Students today want and deserve tools that will help them succeed, tools for greater expression, tools of opportunity, of entrepreneurship, tools that will enable music, art, and literature a secure place among the disciplines of today and tomorrow.

The myth of the canon is that the canon is located at the end of a narrow tunnel without any change and without any goals other than a focused but uneventful journey toward an excellence long past. The myth is that there is only one route to the excellence and that the established canon is the reward at the end of the journey. It is time to give our students new tools that will allow them success and allow them to try new routes and discover new art along the way. There might be bumps and twists and turns on our journey of discovery but the gain is the possibility of progression, of creation, and of greater expression. Along the way, we nod at and learn from the past, from the masters, but as we learn from them, we may see a gleam in their eye that reminds us of the need to imagine something new. As I walk by these masters, I have to wonder if they saw their work as timeless artifacts destined for greatness forever. Did they create and write anticipating their work would one day be viewed as the final destiny for all future artists? Did they know they would be the canon?

Our literature, art, and music is a result of somebody's imagination. Time to imagine something new and create a new canon for students today. We respect the printing press, but there is no need to spend 4 years studying how to build it nor how to replicate it.

An advocate not for abolishment of the old but certainly an advocate for expansion of what we deem as necessary, I believe it is time to reinvent the canon, to include new forms, genres, ideas, and thereby propel imagination and creativity to new heights. The study of literature may need to include children's literature, comic books, folk tales, detective stories, science fiction, biographies. Art may need to expand to computer graphics, pop art, signage, comic strips, advertising, furniture, and modern architecture. Music may need to look at rock, pop, jazz, folk, and world music. The old classics are fine but this is a call to seek out and experiment in our quest for new classics. Otherwise we sit in academic quicksand, slowly being engulfed by the past with little gain for the future.