영미문학교육과 "비판적 페다고지"-21세기 비판적 어문교육을 위한 시론(試論)

English Literary Education and "Critical Pedagogy": Towards the 21st-century Critical Language and Literature Education

This essay is an attempt to incorporate "critical pedagogy" into English literary education and propose a critical English language and literature education in the university English classroom for the 21st century. I explore the recent attention to English literature in the field of language and literature education. French post-structuralist philosopher Gilles Deleuze-an empiricist and plurist-values the Anglo-American tradition for its experimental qualities, multiplicitous hybridity, and most importantly, transformation into becoming. He contends that the Anglo- American literature is superior to any Western literature because of its traits, among others, of rhizome, nomadity, body without organs, deterritorization. In tandem, these characteristics are closely related to reflection, interference, transgression, resistance and critique. Deleuzian fascination of the Anglo-American literature prompts us to apply" critical pedagogy" in teaching English literature. Accordingly, we should consider incorporating the superiority of the Anglo-American literature into all levels of English literary education. Paulo Freire, a prominent Brazilian philosopher of popular education, initiated "critical pedagogy" which strongly argues that every student is capable of looking critically at advanced capitalist and technological society in a dialogical encounter with others. "Critical pedagogy" empowers students as critical citizens who can perceive and consequently deal with their personal and social reality and the world. As university teachers of Anglo- American literature. we should inculcate this critical consciousness in students' mind in and out of the classroom. The English professors in Korea are, on a fundamental level. all the teachers of English as a foreign language(EFL). In addition to teaching English grammar and structure, translation and interpretation, we EFL teachers should italicize how English language is used to structure expectation, participation and exclusion in our society and world outside. By equipping our students with social advocacy and critical thinking, the EFL pedagogy in the English literature classroom will better prepare them for a social world of the 21st century. As critical intellectuals, we should create a cultural politics of English literary education through critical pedagogy, critical language education, and critical EFL pedagogy.