To develop effective programs for civic education in the schools today,
educators must confront in some countries a deepening hostility to the
inculcation of a national, or civic, identity in any form. Much of
this hostility emanates from those who espouse something called
"cultural democracy," or what has recently been called "illiberal
multiculturalism." This form of multiculturalism may be described as
an effort to "close young people off into identities already ascribed
to them" and to make them think that they bear no personal
responsibility for their thinking or behavior because -so the illiberal
multiculturalist claims-both are determined by their "culture" or their
"race, ethnicity, or gender." In drawing on the various academic
disciplines in the school curriculum, civic educators have tended to
overlook literary study for its potential contribution to civic
education, both to strengthen it and to address these anti-civic
forces.
The ultimate purpose of this essay is to show how the construction of
literature curricula and the study of literature can contribute to
these goals. In this essay, I describe the anti-civic forces now at
work in literature programs in American schools and explain why these
forces exist. I then suggest how literature programs can honor the
essence of literary study (that is, the teaching of literature as
literature) and at the same time strengthen the underpinnings of a
constitutional democracy centered on individual rights and a concept of
personal responsibility as well as combat the anti-civic forces
emanating from illiberal multiculturalism. Although I will of
necessity use examples from chiefly American and British literature to
illustrate my suggestions, civic educators in other countries can draw
on the literature of their own countries as support for civic education
and to combat these anti-civic forces provided they are clear about
what they are trying to accomplish. Sandra Stotsky
Key Words: Literature, Citizenship Education, Multiculruralism.
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Nº 209, enero-abril 1998 
