I’m delighted to hear that the English school curriculum is about to be shaken up by the arrival of Nirvana, Pearl Jam and Soundgarden into classrooms. This is part of wider plans to turn pupils into “educated citizens in modern society” by including contemporary material alongside the more established canon, and it’s led by Oak National Academy, the government-backed creator of curriculum resources. A spoonful of grunge helps the western classical tradition go down, as Mary Poppins almost said.
Hello, hello, how low, some might argue. No doubt the critics will see this as “dumbing down”, a defeatist attempt to pander to today’s teen spirit. Oh well, whatever, never mind. I’ve seen first-hand the beneficial effects of creating an invisible string between historical works and modern popular culture in my new course at Ghent University in Belgium. Titled English literature (Taylor’s version), it offers in-depth perspectives on the works you might expect on an English literature syllabus – from anonymous Old English poets to Geoffrey Chaucer, Charlotte Brontë and Sylvia Plath – with a special guest appearance from the 21st century’s new literary superstar, Taylor Swift.
