Notes against the empire of political correctness in literature classes

Abstract

Dialoguing with the dossier of issue 31 of Boletín GEC and with an interview with the poet Claudia Masin, the article recalls ideas of the late Roland Barthes, who argued that literature fulfills fundamental functions for civic life because it allows us to create and listen to nuances that are absent in language and culture. Following the thread of that thought, it is argued that, in a present in which the tendency to homogenization inhibits nuances in the construction of our subjectivities, seriously weakens our ability to empathize with different people in different emotional situations, and forces us to project our lives by choosing options or pseudo-options from an increasingly restricted menu, those gifts of literature are urgent for society and the intrusion of political correctness makes it difficult for writers and teachers to do their work in peace.