SUMMARY CHAPTER IV

READING LITERATURE CROSS-CULTURALLY

In this chapter, we aim to identify what some of these problems might be so that we can
suggest a few ways of overcoming them :
A. BEING A STUDENT
In this section we will experiment with putting ourselves in the position of our learners.
We will be trying to step out of our own cultural skins so as to define more precisely the
kinds of cultural problems our students may experience when reading literary texts We will
be doing this by reading three very different texts from around the world. One of the texts is
in translation, one of them draws on a rich oral tradition and one of them is taken from a well-
known British novel. Since all three texts are extracts, you may find you are slightly
hampered in your understanding of them by not knowing what came before the extract in
question. On the other hand, you should be able to focus quite clearly on the cultural
difficulties in each text. This fits in with our aim in this section - to come up with a working
list of those cultural aspects of texts which we find difficult, and which could prove
problematic for our learners.

B. A consideration of cultural aspects in texts

Cultural familiarity with aspects in the text such as with the character, subject matter or
language use did play a role in facilitating students' comprehension and enhancing transaction
with the text. A more interesting finding was that there was a notion of cultural `nearness' and
`farness

C. Strategies for overcoming cultural problems

1. Personalising
 A family gathering:relate a family gathering to the occasion the literary work
 Think of a situation in which someone you know has been sad : why and could
you help him/her ?

2. Providing explanations/glosses
 Provide short cultural inormation in notes to explain the story.
3. Asking students to infer cultural information
Ex : Do you think that an ogene (Text A) is:
o a kind of leather drum used to summon people?
o a musical instrument of some kind?
o an iron gong which is beaten with a stick?

4. Making cultural comparisons

 Ask student about the perculiar belies of supersitions in their country pertaining to
the same customs or items that are mentioned in the literary work. Ask them to
disuss the customs/superstitions with a partner. Then read literaty text again and
compare and contrast the literary text with their perception of the same items.

5. Making associations
 The teacher asks the students to go around a word or phrase that as connotation or
figurative meaning in the source culture then try to find i these associations take
on any particular symbolic meaning in the source text.

6. Providing cultural background information as reading/ listening comprehension

 Give the students a mini-comprehension, to listen to or to read, which provides
more information about particular cultural aspects of the text. Then get them to
apply this information to the text they have just read, for example:’
a) a brief reading comprehension about the Chinese Revolution (for Text C, The
Dragon's Village)
b) a brief listening comprehension about the dominant themes in the writings of
Chinua Achebe (for Text A, Arrow of God

7. Extension activities
 These are activities for students to do after they have read the text, which ask them
to think critically about, and become personally involved in, the cultural aspects of
the text they have just read, for example:
 a) Roleplay/Simulation: Imagine you are the students and dons (university
teachers) at Oxford university in the days before most colleges admitted both
male and female students
b) Discussion: What are the advantages and disadvantages of arranged
marriages?
c) Project work: If library facilities are available, ask students to write an essay
or do a poster presentation on the changes in British society after the First
World War

CONCLUSION

It was pointed out that readers invariably interpret texts in the light of their own
world-view and cultural experience. It was also mentioned that the relationship between a
literary text and the culture in which it is produced is highly complex, since few texts are
mere factual representations of their culture. In any teaching situation, there are obviously
some literary texts which are likely to present fewer cultural problems for students than
others. For example, a text in English by a writer of a similar cultural background to the
group of students studying the text may be more culturally accessible than a text written by
an author from a culture far removed from the students' own.
In addition, although students may find it easier to respond personally to a text from
within their own culture, there is a strong argument for saying that exposing students to
literature from other cultures is an enriching and exciting way of increasing their awareness
of different values, beliefs, social structures