Is literature language

The question “What is the relationship between literature and composition in English departments and universities?” has been debated for over a century. Scholars in both fields treat literature as a kind of language unrelated to the students' language associated with the subject of composition. Contemporary genre theory, which treats language use within its social context, offers a means of canceling this separation of literature from students' language use and, on a professional level, resolving the contingent split between literature and composition.; Genre theory places the range of issues common to literature and composition in a new context, making the subject of language in society an organizing principle for their shared pedagogical and curricular concerns. Analyzing language and literary genres involves asking the following questions: Who uses a given genre? Who is excluded? What is the status of a particular genre in relation to social power? By addressing these questions, students learn to identify how language use relates to social attitudes and values. Depending upon their own language and cultural backgrounds, students' responses to literature identify new genres and introduce new subjects into course curricula. Although literature from a range of historical periods is suitable for a genre-based inquiry, this study focuses on contemporary literature by John Wideman, Sandra Cisneros, Maxine Hong Kingston, John Irving, John Barth, Robert Coover, Douglas Coupland, and Astro Teller that treats such issues as multiple standards of English, personal writing, storytelling and culture, and technology.; At this time, an approach to literature and writing as reciprocal subjects has much to offer the profession. Studying language genres places the range of issues common to literature and writing in a new context, responsive to current changes in society and university populations, yet respectful of the historic weight of these issues. By teaching literature as language use, English studies will be able to articulate its continued relevance to society, move toward a congruence of pedagogical and curricular issues, and offer programs of study responsive and responsible to the relationship between language use and social values.