Can someone convince me that the Western Canon is not just codeword for, "Shit white people have written"?
Seriously, what's the justification in grouping all of these disparate cultures and ethnicities together and treating them like they're some sort of homogeneous bloc? Italy shares more history with North Africa than it does with Norway (Rome even had an African emperor), yet Africa isn't included in the West even though Norway is. Similarly Ancient Greece, which we consider the pillar of the West, shared much more with Asia/Persia/Turkey than it did with Europe. The fucking Trojan War, on which those two well-known classics are based, was set in Turkey. There is literally nothing linking these different peoples together that would justify grouping them in this way.
I've heard it said that because in the modern day the West has a set of shared values the Western Canon is justified. But the values we share today are the product of liberal humanist philosophy and the French Revolution, so what's the justification for grouping us with the Vikings and the Tsarists and the 1600s British when those people had radically different values to us? And furthermore why does Bloom include Russia and others in the Western Canon when they have different values to us even to this day?
I can't get my mind around this. We don't share a language, we don't share a culture, we don't share history-- the only thing binding us together is race.
How is it bait? Everything I said was in good faith.
Evan Young
The Western Canon is a family. You have close relatives, distant relatives, and friends of the family (The Bible, 1001 Nights, etc.) but they're all relatives in away. Niggers are not our relatives. They're the ugly and disgusting family next door who hasn't produced anything of value.
Gabriel Ortiz
>muh Shakespeare >even though Dante died before Our Lord Willy Shake was born, all I will say about him is that he would probably be jealous of Shakespeare godly writing
Colton Campbell
>He thinks the Trojans weren't white just because the city happened to be in the modern country of Turkey
It's meaningless to apply modern concepts of race to antiquity anyway. It's arbitrary and dishonest. If they really wanted to do it they could call it the Canon of the White Race but instead they say "West" so it seems more PC. If it was me I'd just make it the world canon; why not get the best from all places?
Josiah Brown
How to be part of the Western Canon: a) Write an aesthetically or philosophically compelling work in a Western language (of the Indo-European tree). b) Produce works that influence Western writers and literature even if they're in a non-Western language. > If it was me I'd just make it the world canon; why not get the best from all places? That's another concept called Universal Literature, you fucking nigger.
Gabriel Sanders
>Can someone convince me that the Western Canon is not just codeword for, "Shit white people have written"? It is just that, and there's nothing wrong with it.
John Ward
It's a fucking sham, literally the product of hypocrisy. The EU is all about preaching solidarity and unity between the European nations and yet you see how they pretty much don't give a crap about Eastern Europe, they only care about the northern and western part. The same with the fucking trade agreements between countries it's always between their neighbors or old allies, there's no real unity among them. Fucking hate "The West" as a term too like Europe and USA are the same fucking country with the same fucking people who speak the same language and culture. Fuck these "intellectuals" who push this hypocritical shit
Kayden Cook
It isn't just that, though.
John Rivera
So anyone who writes in Finnish, Hungarian, Estonian, Basque, Sámi, and Maltese cannot be part of the Western Canon. Also strange how those Indo-european writers in Asia aren't included except one or two Indian works.
>I have included some Sanskrit works, scriptures and fundamental literary texts, because of their influence on the Western canon. The immense wealth of ancient Chinese literature is mostly a sphere apart from Western literary tradition and is rarely conveyed adequately in the translations available to us.
HMMMMM. Why does Bloom not include all good Indo-European works? Why not more writers from India? Why not writers from Iran? Azerbaijan? Sudan? Strange.
It's an arbitrary distinction anyway. Indo-European languages sound nothing like each other. You won't be able to speak Koine Greek if you speak English. Grouping indo-european works together is no less arbitrary than grouping by race.
Andrew Scott
Is it really that hard to see tht the Jew is trying as best he can to cover his ass from various sreiking natives: "ve are part of Commonwealth to! Vhy not are litature in der too!" I's not difficult once you look at it from that angle. Oh, and never mind the fact that the Brits produced an alphabet and dictionary for just about all these fucking "commonwealth" people.
Angel Robinson
It's a combination of relevance, influence, geography, culture, and language. See:
Matthew Bailey
Everyone in this thread has been baited by an autist who is not arguing in good faith. Stop being a retard by arguing with him. Sage & ignore.
Oliver Miller
19th century colonization set the west apart from the rest of the world and strengthened the bonds that had first developed during the crusades.
Caleb Cox
>Can someone convince me that the Western Canon is not just codeword for, "Shit white people have written"?
no
Adam James
Africa is included in the western canon. If Africa had any good writers, they would be in it. Simple as
Ryan Wilson
/thead
Hunter Phillips
Augustine is in the western canon though
Angel Perez
>implying
Austin Stewart
The Western Canon is The Western Canon, fucktard. It’s significant works by western peoples.
