A Partially Complete and Completely Partial Survey of Sorts

Disclaimer: My boss, a highly intelligent gentleman eminently well-educated in his field of Finance, has frequently called me “a font of useless knowledge,” largely due to my (compared to his) fairly extensive education in the arts and what I’ll call, for lack of a better umbrella term, “the humanities.” I’ll readily admit to this, and it certainly colors my perceptions and opinions regarding the importance of certain creative works produced throughout history, particularly the history of western civilization.

It is from this unabashedly biased perspective that I offer up my own thoughts on what, at this moment in history, might constitute “cultural literacy,” mainly in the United States but also in other parts of the English-speaking world, and with what creative works modern Western people should be familiar to achieve such “literacy.” I readily invite debate and additional suggestions to those I present here.

One major consideration, I think, is how long it takes for a creative work to demonstrate its staying power within its culture. The books, movies, music, and television shows that are most popular now may easily be forgotten in fifty years (or sooner.) We really can’t know yet what 21st century creations will take their rightful (or not) place among the “oughta know” works in Western culture.

I’ve come up with half a dozen broad categories, some of which admittedly may overlap a bit: literature, theater, cinema, television, visual art, and music. For this post, I’ve tried to tackle the first three. I got bogged down when I got to TV, and the last two are biggies that probably warrant more words (and pictures and links) than I’m ready to pull together just now. But let’s see what we can do for starters, shall we?

Literature

Buy it in dead tree form before you can’t.

If there is such a thing as “The Great American Novel,” I would argue that it is The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain. It captures the themes of the free person on the frontier, with a nod to the racial issues that have been at least an undercurrent (when not front and center) throughout the history of the United States. That makes it not just a great novel written by an American but a novel about America. If not THE Great American Novel, I’d still argue it’s at least the 19th century’s prime candidate. For similar reasons, I’d suggest To Kill a Mockingbird as another contender for GAN – maybe for the twentieth century. (It sure as hell isn’t Catcher in the Rye. That guy was an asshole.)

Misleading title – No ornithocide instructions

If you believe there are other contenders for overall GAN or at least for the 18th or 20th centuries’ winners, I’m open to your nominations. I’m also curious to know if there’s a Great British, Canadian, and/or Australian Novel. With the long history of England/Great Britain, I’d certainly be hard-pressed to narrow it down to a single title. For that you might have to name one per century.

Of course, there are also literary classics translated into English that should be familiar to the culturally literate person. First and foremost, there are certain books of the Christian Bible that even the most devout atheist should read if you want to understand huge swaths of Western civilization – literature, art, and “serious” music at the very least. At a bare minimum, read the books of Genesis and Exodus in the Old Testament/Hebrew Bible. If you aren’t familiar with the story of Cain and Abel, you will be hard-pressed to fully appreciate John Steinbeck’s East of Eden. Likewise, if you don’t know the story of Job, you’ll give a blank stare to the person who uses the not-uncommon expression “the patience of Job.” (I was once on the receiving end of such a stare from a college student in the dorm where the Rev. GT was a residence hall adviser while he finished his seminary studies. I really didn’t think it was THAT obscure a reference.)

For better or for worse, the translation of the Bible I got for Presbyterian confirmation.

In the New Testament of the Christian Bible, one should read at least one of the Gospels – I believe Mark is the shortest, and it will familiarize you with most of the major events in the life of Jesus of Nazareth, who had a rather significant influence on Western civilization, in case you hadn’t noticed. I leave it to others much more deeply educated in the Bible than I to make a case for the relative merits of the other Gospels – and for which of the multitude of Biblical translations they prefer. Likewise, if you believe any of the holy books of any other religions are “required reading” for basic cultural literacy in Western culture, I invite you to make your case.

Which Greek or Latin works from the “classical” period of history are most important, the ones that every reasonably well-educated person should read? One or the other of the big Homer epics seems like a fairly obvious choice, BUT do they belong in the category of prose or poetry? For better or for worse, I don’t recall ever being “fed” many, if any, Classical Latin works in the course of my almost-entirely-public school education, so I can’t say which of those I’d recommend. Likewise what non-English European literary works should be “required reading?” For that matter, are there any from Asia, Africa, or South America?

Poetry

ROAD TRIP!!!

I must confess that I’m not well versed (::guffaws raucously, slaps knee::) enough in poetry to make many recommendations for this subset of literature. Digging back to some of the earliest works recognizable as English, I’d say the Prologue to The Canterbury Tales could be a contender, as would Shakespeare’s Sonnet 18 (the “Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day?” one.) A little later but along the same lines, Elizabeth Barrett Browning’s Sonnets from the Portuguese 43 (“How do I love thee? Let me count the ways.”) is certainly one that could come in handy in certain circumstances. I’m not saying it’ll get you laid, but it certainly won’t get you slapped with a drink thrown in your face. Unless you’re trying it on the bouncer.

Emily D., Unwitting Lyricist

On this side of the pond, Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Raven” seems a pretty obvious choice, as does Henry Wadsworth Longfellow’s “Paul Revere’s Ride.” I can’t speak to the latter’s historical accuracy, but it’s one that every American child used to read, though probably not so much anymore, as it was written by an old dead white guy about another old dead white guy. I’m personally partial to a couple of Emily Dickinson’s poems, but the most important thing to know about her poetry is that any of them can be sung to the tune of either “I’ve Been Working on the Railroad” or “The Yellow Rose of Texas.” (Another favorite of mine in the realm of poetic/musical pairings: with minimal rearranging, “The Rime of the Ancient Mariner” by Samuel Taylor Coleridge can be sung to the tune of “The Wabash Cannonball.”)

As we creep closer to “modern” poetry, Robert Frost’s “The Road Not Taken” or “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening” (the “…miles to go before I sleep” one) are some of the newest ones that I would argue have achieved “classic” status.

I suppose one COULD argue that certain oft-repeated limericks might merit inclusion in our Cultural Literacy collection. I will refrain from opining one way or the other on that score, saying only that ideally, one should learn this sort of thing on the streets or in the gutter the way God intended.

Theater

Well, duh!

The most obvious candidate for this category is, of course, William Shakespeare. The culturally literate English-speaking person should at least be familiar with the basic plots of the tragedies Hamlet, Macbeth, and Romeo and Juliet. If any of Willie’s history plays should likewise be included, they would be Henry V (for the “St. Crispin’s Day speech” if nothing else) and/or Richard III (“My kingdom for a horse!”)

I confess I’m less familiar with the comedies, but I’ll just say that the most delightful live production of a Shakespeare play I’ve ever seen was a college theater staging of A Midsummer Night’s Dream that was given a 60’s vibe – the royal characters were “Establishment” types (with the queen in a pillbox hat that was classic Jackie Kennedy,) the “workmen of Athens” wore hardhats (Bottom had a thick New Yawk accent,) and the young lovers were hippies. (The fairies were…well…fairies and were timelessly ethereal.) There were also Beatles tunes woven throughout, but I won’t elaborate further, not wanting to trigger the Beatlephobes among us. Though I tend to be a bit of a purist about “adapting” creative works, that production made me more open to the possibility of changing the periods and settings of Shakespeare’s plays. It was so delightful that the Rev. GT and I went to see it a second time the very next evening.

So…what other plays, tragic or comic, belong on the “must see (or at least read)” list? Any from classical Greece? I suppose Oedipus Rex could be one. Take your mom to see it. And which ones from the centuries since Shakespeare?

Musical Theater

Mary Freakin’ Martin, bitchezz! (***SIGH!!!*** Larry Hagman’s mom)

Don’t panic. I’ll keep this brief. As much as I love Gilbert & Sullivan operettas, I don’t know if I could plausibly make a case for including them in the “must know or remain an ignorant yahoo” list. Therefore, I’ll jump ahead to those I consider the creators of the greatest musical theater of all time (so far) – Rodgers & Hammerstein. And if you can only bear the thought of sitting through one of their classics, make it South Pacific. Nuthin’ unmanly about that one… unless you count the guy in the coconut bra and the grass skirt. (Besides it’s inherent qualities, South Pacific also inspired the best “knock knock” joke of all time:

“Knock knock?”

“Who’s there?”

“Sam and Janet.”

“Sam and Janet who?”

“Sa-a-a-am and JA-A-A-A-net e-e-e-eveni-i-i-ing…”)

If you’re up for any more after that, go for Oklahoma (which itself inspired the best radio commercial for a record store/head shop ever produced in the greater Dayton, Ohio, area) and, of course, The Sound of Music. The film adaptations of each of these were all excellently done, so you don’t have to wait for your local community theater to stage one of them in order to see one. In fact, depending on your community, you might not want to do that at all.

Meh. Only one memorable (heh!) song.

As for candidates from across the pond, I would take some convincing to include the most obvious one – Andrew Lloyd Webber. As far as I can tell, Cats had only one song worth a damn, and I’m pretty sure I’ve never sat through a full Webber production except Jesus Christ Superstar. I think it’s too soon to tell if his body of work is really going to stand the test of time. Change my mind. Or argue for someone else.

Cinema

Culmination of the best damn shot of the whole film

It was a discussion about a certain American cinema classic that inspired this post, so I’ll just say right off the bat that even if Gone With the Wind is not the greatest American film ever, it’s one that I believe is a staple for American cultural literacy. (As an added bonus, you get to watch Atlanta burn, a pleasure dampened by the disappointing knowledge that neither the Braves nor CNN were there yet.) I’ll also put the first three released Star Wars movies up there. They’ve become embedded in our popular culture. With any luck, they’ll survive Lucas’s and/or Disney’s best efforts to destroy the franchise once and for all.

No, the Little Tramp was NOT Mary Pickford.

Reaching back to the silent era of films, the person who would be culturally literate should have at least a passing familiarity with the “Little Tramp” character of Charlie Chaplin (though Buster Keaton was the better master of the silent medium,) and in the early era of “talkies,” with the Laurel & Hardy comedies. Hunt up some of the classic Marx Brothers bits on your favorite online video purveyor – that’ll probably enhance your appreciation of them more than sitting through the entire silliness of the movies. (Even so, Marx Brothers >>> Three Stooges.) And, of course, familiarity with the classic Abbott & Costello “Who’s On First” sketch is a must, but no, you DON’T have to learn it by heart.

Among other dramatic films, Casablanca certainly merits mention, and Citizen Kane usually shows up on lists of the best of all time. I’ll defer to our resident cinema buffs to nominate the movies they would consider staples – which could also include foreign films IF they are ones that any would-be-culturally-literate English-speaking folks should really know. (Kurosawa, anyone? At least The Seven Samurai for its inspiration of The Magnificent Seven?)

Musical Films (not adapted from the stage)

Proof of its place in pop culture (Fun fact: This image is flipped from the film)

First and foremost is one that came out the same year and had the same director as GWTW – The Wizard of Oz. (Both movies were arguably better than the books on which they were based.) Boomers certainly grew up with this classic being shown on television EVERY FREAKIN’ YEAR, even if many of us weren’t in a position to fully appreciate the dramatic transition from black & white Kansas to Technicolor Oz until rather later in life. (My family didn’t have a color TV until I was in high school.)

She knows how to use them.

I’ll also include Singing in the Rain simply because I think it’s the greatest original musical film ever to come out of Hollywood and is the gold standard of the golden age of Hollywood musicals of the 1930s through the 1950s. In particular, it may have the best dancing ever captured on film, and not necessarily performed by Gene Kelly. (Furthermore, it features in one extended dance number a top contender for Best Legs Ever in a Hollywood Musical. I once heard someone describe them as going “up to her armpits.”)

 

There are three big, broad categories of culture I think I’ll need to leave for a later installment, both for the sake of expedience (::winces at the crack of Swissy’s whip demanding site content::) and because I’m a bit daunted at the prospect of narrowing them down to the “essentials”:

Television

This category is trickier, as it is youngest medium I’m considering, and I tend to think it may be even more “generational” than music. Maybe a little something from its most popular genres – the “sit com,” the medical drama, the police drama, etc.?

Visual Art

This category, of course, is more universal than literature and long predates language. A bit much to consider along with everything else just now.

Music

This, too, is fairly universal, depending on whether the work has words set to it. It’s also the one I can imagine could inspire the most vehement Glib virtual food fights. I won’t open this can of worms…yet.

So please chime in with your arguments for or against my suggested candidates and/or defend your own nominees in any or all of the categories.

[Note: the featured image on the home page was created by Sandra Boynton, greatest greeting card artist of all time. I bought the card version of the button shown as a graduation gift for my college American Lit instructor when she got her Ph.D.]