The novel often considered the greatest modern work, Ulysses by James Joyce, portrays the inner communication of an ordinary person over the course of a single day in Dublin. Three years later, Virginia Woolf published what is widely regarded as her finest literary work, Mrs Dalloway, which depicts the inner thoughts of an upper-class woman during a day in London. Reading these works—and even more so, discussing them—encourages not only the inner dialogue we already possess but also our awareness of its crucial role in shaping our identity and our lives.
The Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka, short and easy to read, presents the inner voice of a person excluded by those closest to him, something many individuals experience in schools, families, and other contexts. Meanwhile, In Search of Lost Time by Marcel Proust reveals that this inner communication is not made up solely of words, but is also co-created through feelings and sensations we have shared with others.
By reading and discussing these and other great literary works, we also co-create our own inner dialogue—our own being and identity. In a world dominated by the trivialities that prevail across screens, media, and social networks, great literature is a treasure that does not expire or wear out with use. Within a system driven by predatory capitalism and its markets, the finest works can be disruptive products—ones that hinder the compulsive consumption that generates the highest profits. For this reason, the worst forms of capital and their media often try to present such literature to children and adolescents as boring, unrealistic, or outdated. And for those who resist abandoning books, the market offers lower-quality titles as substitute consumer products.
Those who wish to give students the opportunity not to submit to the worst products of the market—to avoid becoming what predatory capitalism demands—have, among others, two options. One is to encourage critical perspectives on capitalism while students remain dependent on its most superficial series and heavily advertised brands. The other is to offer, in engaging ways, the very activities from which they are often excluded. In the case of literature, one such approach has already been widely researched and developed: dialogic literary gatherings. For most students fortunate enough to experience them, both their education and their personal development improve in ways that last a lifetime.
Article translated from Periódico Educación
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