Expanding the Literary Canon
Hispanic literature is growing in popularity, and scholars would like to see it better incorporated into high school, college curriculms.
By Dina Horwedel
For most college students, literature courses began in high school and consisted almost entirely of the classics of America and Western Europe. But English professor Norma E. Cantú says the emergence of Hispanic literature and its growing popularity on college campuses around the country — and the world — is proof that American literature is expanding and making room for the diverse cultures that make up this country.
“American literature has been growing since the beginning,” says Cantú, who teaches at the University of Texas at San Antonio “[Herman] Melville and others entered the canon where traditionally there were only British writers. Then the canon expanded to include African-American writers and more.”
Although Hispanic literature isn’t new, it has generally been left out of world literature courses, says Cantú. “Since the 1930s, there were writers being published, not by New York presses but by smaller presses.” she says.
