THE ROLE OF LITERATURE IN TEACHING
One of the biggest parts of any culture is its language. Language stores and represents values, marks some words as positive, some as negative. Some experts claim that language dictates the very way of our thinking, hence the differences in ethnic mentalities. It is very important to implement this information into teaching in a smart way. That’s where literature comes into play.
Russian teaching methods have a long history of using classical literature as a complementary element of education, especially in Russian language. It is used to illustrate syntax structures, as an object of analysis in tasks and even as an epigraph to a lesson. Literature is held in very high regard in education in Russia for a pretty simple reason (although the whole picture is complex) – it is mandatory to develop children’s cultural knowledge. But how is literature connected to culture exactly?
A renowned author is a great example of a “condensed cultural-specific view on the world”, he is a bearer of cultural values. Through his text one can see how reality is perceived by people of his country: specifics of day-to-day life, background knowledge and even the vocabulary of many social groups. Are you interested in the way nobles used to live? Read Turgenev’s novels. Would you be interested in venturing into the life of outcasts and seeking out the darker side of Saint Petersburg? There is always Dostoevsky and his characters. For the working class, pick up a copy of Gorky to discover their views and their ways. Through native texts we can also see how a nation treats “others”.
One can say that it is a way of killing two birds with one stone: you teach a subject while getting your students accustomed to a particular culture. When it comes to teaching humanitarian disciplines, literature also develops empathy, skills of analysis and critical thinking. The broad spectrum of problems and their possible solutions in a way affects one’s ability to feel more sure in stressful situations; some of the fictional experiences may be useful in real life. Art imitates life after all.
Overall, it is a good practice to implement fragments of various books into learning materials: be it a piece of classical native writing or even world-famous texts that have an international cultural imprint. And let’s not forget that modern culture is built on the heritage of classic culture and often plays with ideas that only people familiar with these roots can understand. Without having the basic knowledge of what was, one can’t truly understand what is.
Mr Viacheslav, Russian Teacher
