Eastern Civilization and Western Barbarism

When I teach young Chinese students, they always seem familiar with the classics of the West. In a recent class, I asked each, “what’s your favourite book?” The first student said “Tom Sawyer.” The next said “Little Red Riding Hood.” They can all recount the story of the Three Little Pigs, or the Tortoise and the Hare. Another was working on an essay on "The Little Mermaid." The Andersen story, not the Disney movie.

I recently signed on to help American students with their high school English Lit homework, and find I cannot. Despite two degrees and most of a doctorate in, essentially, literature. They are all reading recent novels which I would have to read myself in order to advise them.

No doubt North American kids are getting a good taste of the classics outside of school, if in a distorted form: from Disney and other forms of popular entertainment. But we really should be teaching the original versions in school. Obviously, the kids would be interested—this is just about what they are most interested in, according to the box office. Aside from the fact that they teach vital life lessons, these are, after all, the best stories available.

And sometimes versions of the classic stories do appear in North American texts. When they do, however, it is always a modern retelling intended to subvert the original. One classic example I encountered recently was The Boy Who Cried Wolf told from the perspective of the wolf. Who was, of course, a vegetarian.

It almost looks as though the future of Western civilization is in China; or in the Far East. Perhaps also in Eastern Europe.

It is encouraging to know, at least, that it will survive somewhere.

And perhaps this is a good thing. “Western civilization” was always a bit nonsensical as a term. Civilization is civilization. Its centre is perhaps shifting.