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William
Veeder asks his students to question the notion of “classic” texts.
 William
Veeder (left), professor of English language and literature and
a 1975 Quantrell winner, will teach English 290: Fiction’s
Fiction this winter.
The reading list includes classic works of American and English
literature paired with their modern recraftings, such as Henry James’s
The Aspern Papers and Carlos Fuentes’s Aura;
Daniel Defoe’s Robinson Crusoe and J. M. Coetzee’s
Foe; Charlotte Bronte’s Jane Eyre and Jean Rhys’s
Wide Sargasso Sea; Shakespeare’s King Lear and Jane
Smiley’s novel A Thousand Acres; and Jane Austen’s
Emma and Amy Heckerling’s film Clueless.
“Students will read or view the assigned works, and then
engage in class discussions and papers that explore the specific
questions raised by writers who ‘rewrite’ texts that are
generally considered ‘classics,’” explains Veeder.
“Questioning the notion of ‘classic’ texts is healthy,
since each generation must decide for itself what is valuable, useful,
and beautiful. I remain convinced that there are indeed ‘classics’—texts
that speak to each successive generation of readers in ways that
these readers find valuable and sustaining. What authors do by ‘rewriting’
classic texts is to aid in our exploration of value. We can highlight
what can be found in a previous work that we hadn’t seen there
before. And, we can explore what is missing, what personal and cultural
blindspot would prove limiting to today’s readers if we were
not to see beyond the text.”—E.C.
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