Twenty-fifth International Conference on Learning

Abstract

This paper examines and critiques current literary curricula and instruction practices in the secondary and post-secondary classroom in the United States through an interdisciplinary framework that knits together research from the fields of neuroscience, literary theory, philosophy, and critical theory. Through an exploration of the potential of the aesthetic (Rosenblatt, 1978) to transform reader behaviors and attitudes, this work attempts to develop a conceptual framework that can inform pedagogical choices in literature courses using global and multi-cultural texts. The central claim of this work is that to leverage the potential of literary narratives to cultivate culturally literate global citizenry who is both empathetic and pro-social (Barazza & Zak, 2009; Johnson, 2012), the formal study of literature must capitalize on the aesthetic experience engendered by reader transportation (Green & Brock, 2000). Developing instructional practices and assessment methods that encourage and validate the aesthetic response requires the un-privileging of the efferent stance (Rosenblatt, 1978) that is expressed as the critical matrix (Mandel, 1979) in literary studies.