Using “Literary Canon” as a Keyword

A keyword that has become relevant, and we have considered regarding a few different points of discussion in class, is literary canon, first presented to us by John Guillory in his piece “The Problem of Literary Canon Formation”. Guillory discusses the ways in which “the school is the vehicle of transmission for something like national culture” (1589), and how that transmission of culture is largely determined by “reference to the High Culture artifacts to which access is provided in schools” (1589-1590). I plan to lean into that sentiment and argue with it, reasoning that cultural artifacts come in different forms than, say, the great American novel, and extend to primary texts written by less glorified authors, who have just as much clout and cultural knowledge as the authors that tend to be studied most heavily in schools.

My initial background research, which originally revolved around WWII, led me down a path that focused less on writing that came from more prominent writers of the time, and instead honed in more on writing that came directly out of the people who experienced this wartime firsthand – and in an unconventional way. I’ve become extremely interested, most specifically, in the writing that came from prisoners of war and detainees of war and torture camps that were published either after their release, or while they were still imprisoned in a prison or a camp.

Based upon some secondary sources I encountered during my research, I’ve come up with two main keywords – or key phrases, in my case – that are used throughout, and really get down to the nitty-gritty of what my interests revolve around. Those words are inmate poetry and prisoner of war literature. These two key phrases are used throughout the texts I have engaged with and target the differences between the type of work that came out of wartime from bystanders or people indirectly involved with war, as opposed to those – like inmates and POWs – who have experienced the traumatic repercussions of war firsthand.

As opposed to other literature composed during times of war, poetry and other works written by inmates and POWs offers an outlet of expression for these solitary people – it is their sole connection to the outside world and the way they express their thoughts, feelings and experiences throughout their confinement, regardless of if their work will be read by others or not. Their experiences and unfortunate circumstances are sometimes expanded upon, but more often than not, they are creative ways of expressing their feelings of their journey from free person to incarcerated person. Repeated often is language that represents thoughtful reflection of their own self, along with a reflection on the hardships of war even more generally. This type of literature differs greatly because the authors are so directly immersed in the effects of war, rather than viewing the effects from an outside perspective.

In looking at my keywords, I came up with a question I wanted to propose to myself as I went forth with my research to further target the reasoning behind why literature from inmates and POWs at wartime is important and interesting to me. I asked “how does literature written by inmates/prisoners both aid in the healing process and act as an alternative, yet still historically accurate, representation of wartime during a specific period in history?” From that, I considered some binaries that were present, like aid/hinder, healing/neglecting, inmates/free persons, historically accurate/historically inaccurate, and wartime/peace. All of these binaries pose certain questions that I wish to explore more, such as “do inmates, who have limited access to resources, write in the same manner or about the same sorts of things as free people?” And, “are these piece of literature from incarcerated people considered historical documents that contribute to the overall discussion about this period of time, or are they of their own separate category?” And lastly, “does literature composed and circulated during the pressures of wartime have different effects on society than literature composed and circulated during a peaceful time?” All of these questions, created from the binaries I discovered in my initial research about my interests, are worth considering as I delve further into this area of work.

By using these keywords, I expect my research to be narrowed enough that I can refine all wartime writing down to pieces that have been composed by unconventional authors, but also still broad enough that I’m not eliminating works that could have been published, edited or produced by secondary authors who report on the stories of inmates, prisoners, etc. I plan to continue to use these key phrases to direct my research as I look to find sources, both primary and secondary, which help to answer some of the questions I proposed above.