Cultural Literacy and Great Books
In the summer of 2023, I taught a three-day workshop about “Cultural Literacy.” It was an interesting experience, both for the participants (a group of American Anglicans attending a Summer Camp in Germany) and for me as the tour guide.
Cultural Literacy is our ability to read and interpret the world around us so that we are able to respond well. One of the assumptions behind the project is that culture is readable and the world is filled with signs and meanings. Literacy involves being able to read and interpret those signs, but also being able to create new cultural signs in response.
Why is Cultural Literacy important? We live in a time of VUCA, Volatility, Uncertainty, Complexity and Ambiguity. Many people experience difficulties as they try to read and respond to rapid cultural developments. Others see opportunities in the upheaval, perhaps we will be able to point some people to the Ultimate Signifier, the Logos which was from the beginning?
In practical terms, developing Cultural Literacy involves developing skills, gaining knowledge, and developing the right attitude. This also requires attention and time to practice. As part of the workshop, we practised the following framework: reading > writing > sharing
Reading is a metaphor for the interpretation of signs. I take signs in a broad sense. We read some texts (Plato and Kingsnorth) as part of the workshop. We also choose some books for individual reading from the Book Club Table. We also went to a Medieval cathedral to read signs made of stone, wood, colour, and glass. And during the daily liturgy, the sign ensembles included music as well.
Writing is a metaphor for the creation of new cultural signs. During the workshop, we used language in the daily reflections and the journaling exercises. I know that one participant made drawings. The interesting thing about writing is that it slows us down: we cannot write as fast as we think, so writing creates space for reflection.
Sharing is an important value in the work of Cultural Literacy. Learning is of course social work, it is our participation in a wider community of learners both past, present, and future. One of the goals of teaching Cultural Literacy is to inspire and shape the next generation. We finished the workshop with a celebration in which everyone shared something that they had learned.
During the retreat, I spent some time re-reading parts of “Lost in Thought. The hidden pleasures of an intellectual life“. I owe the idea of this “Cultural Literacy Retreat” to this book, in a way. As I was reading it again, I realized three things.
1 Learning is a natural, human good. It is good to pursue and it is a pursuit. It is good to follow our curiosity in all different forms and directions. And when we derive pleasure from it, when we experience joy, we know that we do what we were created and called to do.
2 Learning is also a Christian calling. It is our vocation to read and talk, to write and create in response to beauty and all God’s good gifts. But it is also a twofold challenge: it is not easy to follow this path till the end. We are also challenged to learn the history of our culture so that we might understand the present and, perhaps, practice shaping the future.
3 Learning is open to all. During the retreat, I tried to provide a space within which learning could take place. We had generous amounts of time to read and reflect. We went to the medieval Cathedral of Fritzlar to stimulate our imagination.
As Zena Hitz writes in her Lost in Thought, the calling and challenge of learning is open to us all. I believe it is important to share experiences like the Retreat or a Book Club, to inspire others to do the same.