[Assignment]
The question of why a work deserves inclusion in the literary canon is especially interesting when it comes to world literature. Many of the world’s earliest texts arose out of an oral rather than a written tradition, giving them a form and tone very different than modern works considered to have literary merit. With these works, literary value is determined less by the words themselves and more by the ideas and themes that are developed and their relationship to the culture. In the case of The Epic of Gilgamesh, is inclusion in the canon is due to its influence over the development of literature in the ancient world and because of what it shows us of the values of the ancient Sumerian people.
In The Theory Toolbox, Nealon and Giroux discuss the role of authorship in deciding whether a work is canon. They point out that “to be an author in the canonical sense is to be invested literally with author/ity, to be taken seriously and even revered for your accomplishments” (Nealon and Giroux 11). The importance of the author is a factor in the work’s consideration for the literary canon. This raises an interesting question when it comes to ancient works like The Epic of Gilgamesh that have no clearly defined author. Though the Babylonian writer Shin-Leqi-Unninni penned the best-known version of the epic, it was passed down as an oral tradition for many years before being inscribed on tablets, and cannot be attributed to any one author (Mark). Nealon and Giroux point out that lack of a clear author shifts the analysis from one of finding the author’s meaning to one aimed at finding the text’s meaning (17). Rather than being a conversation with an author, The Epic of Gilgamesh and other epics based on oral traditions are in some ways a conversation with an entire culture, allowing them to give modern readers a broader insight into what ancient cultures believed and valued.
This raises the question of what the meaning and values expressed in The Epic of Gilgamesh have to offer to the modern reader. The epic’s age gives it an inherent value for a student of literature. It is the oldest known piece of epic western literature, pre-dating Homer’s epics by 1500 years (Mark). Much of the literature that followed was inspired by Gilgamesh, consciously or not, as the epic was re-told across Mesopotamia. One example of this is “The Story of the Flood,” in which Utnapishtim tells Gilgamesh of the god Enlil bringing a great flood to Earth to exterminate mankind. This type of flood narrative is found in the literature of many cultures that came after the Sumerians, including the Biblical story of Noah. Understanding the influence of early works like The Epic of Gilgamesh helps the reader provide a more fully realized context for the literature of his own culture, which could be said one of the key functions of the literary canon.
Reading a culture’s literature is one of the best ways to identify what they value and how they perceive the world, things crucial to understanding different cultures. The German writer Johann Wolfgang von Goethe believed in the value of world literature, saying in his introduction to Carlyle’s Life of Schiller that each culture is bound to find in the work of another “something attractive and something repellant, something worthy of emulation and something to be avoided” (Yadav 5). Through exposure to the value systems of different cultures as represented in their literature, the reader can better understand his own culture and values and how they stand in relation to the world at large. By including world literature in the canon, it reinforces its role in providing context for the reader’s experiences by challenging, expanding, and informing his own values.
In the Epic of Gilgamesh, the reader sees what was considered important in the ancient Sumerian culture. Gilgamesh is shown as both loyal and selfless. When Enkidu is dying, he begs to be taken in his brother’s place; once he’s gone, Gilgamesh travels to the underworld to retrieve him. In Gilgamesh’s failed quest to find everlasting life, the reader sees an embracing of death as an inevitable condition of mortality, giving him insight into the Sumerian views on the afterlife. The form of the text is derived from its roots in oral tradition, with far more repetition than is found in a modern story. This is especially noticeable in “The Search for Everlasting Life,” in which Gilgamesh’s appearance is repeatedly described by those he encounters on his journey. The form reinforces the narrative, giving it the poetic feel modern readers have come to associate with mythology.
Though The Epic of Gilgamesh is different in form than literature from the modern era, its content and underlying themes ensure it remains relevant enough to include in the literary canon. The lack of defined author puts the reader’s entire focus on the text; the text itself addresses death, love, and the human condition, showing how the ancient Sumerians viewed the world at the same time it gives insight into more modern works of literature. For these reasons, it deserves a spot in the literary canon and instruction in the classroom.
Works cited
Mark, Joshua J. “Gilgamesh.” Ancient History Encyclopedia, 13 October 2010. Web. 27 July 2016.
Nealon, Jeffrey and Susan Searls Giroux. The Theory Toolbox: Critical Concepts for the Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences, 2nd ed. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc., 2012. Print.
Yadav, Alok. “Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749-1832) on Weltliteratur.” George Mason University, 2009. Web. 27 July 2016.
