Campaign against classic literature - What is the #DisruptTexts movement - Massachusetts school removes Odyssey
A campaign against classic literary works, from Homer's Odyssey to the works of Francis Scott Fitzgerald, has recently begun on social media, provoking strong reactions in the field of education.
Works such as King Lear and The Odyssey are considered to promote violence and racism.
Accompanied by the hashtag #DisruptTexts, hundreds of literature teachers and contemporary writers, mostly from the U.S., are disputing on Twitter and elsewhere the classic texts they believe promote "outdated and dangerous social ideas," according to The Wall Street Journal newspaper.
The supporters of this movement say that, some texts, including Homer, describe incidents of violence, racism and misogyny and according to an article in the Wall Street Journal, the movement aims to exclude American students from controversial works of classic literature.
Supporters of #DisruptTexts believe that works of classic literature, such as the Odyssey, have nothing to do with the educational process because they were written many years ago. In fact, many of them, they say, describe incidents of violence, racism, misogyny that affected outdated societies and, as they claim, psychologically "confuse" by conveying false messages of behavior.
Proponents of this movement say that children should read works that refer to today's language and behavior and not works that describe racism, sexism, anti-Semitism and other forms of hate. In short, they want to "erase" works by Homer, Shakespeare, Nietzsche, and many other classics from school texts.
"We are proud to have canceled Homer"
According to "Wall Street Journal", teachers at the Massachusetts school say they are proud to have "cut" Homer from the curriculum. "We are very proud that the Odyssey was cut from the curriculum this year," says one professor who thinks Homer is sexist and racist.
Strong reactions
"It's a tragedy that this anti-intellectual movement aimed at banning classics is gaining traction among educators and the publishing industry," science fiction author Jon Del Arroz told WSTJ. "Erasing the history of great projects only limits children's ability to be properly educated," he added.
"If there is something wrong with classic literature, it's because it's not being taught. Students who do not have the right to read such great works will suffer from language poverty and lack of cultural references."
Τhe sad thing is that these views of uneducated and fanatical people are becoming more and more numerous. Western civilization, instead of moving forward by holding on solid foundations, is moving towards the disappearance of its very essence.
