How my English Literature degree has shaped my perspective on sociocultural issues

Learning at university as an impressionable young female in a heavily political society has been enlightening and gratifying. One of Leeds Beckett’s foremost qualities is that both students and staff exist in a hugely diverse population. People of many ethnicities, different religions, genders, sexualities and abilities - everyone and anyone is accepted and respected equally. 

Many contributions from my course have influenced and enriched my understanding of cultural awareness and issues of diversity. Most, if not all the modules I have studied on my English Literature course have integrated these issues somehow, shape or form. One module I recently completed was Twentieth-Century Women Novelists, for which I wrote my assignment on Sula by Toni Morrison, one of the most influential, if not the most influential, a pioneer for African-American female writers.

Her writing isn’t just important because of her gender and ethnicity, of course, but her ability to empower all those who have ever felt disregarded by society. Those who have been pushed down; made to feel as though they cannot succeed like others. Her writing from a realist point of view is distinctive and very telling of race and gender issues in society. Her writing enlightened me to diversity issues that are embedded in society, particularly in domestic spaces.  

In addition, the Postcolonial Writing module taught me about intersectional identities and the intertwined relationships of different structures in society. The main text I associate with this module is The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy, set in Kerala,  India. This is a beautiful, insightful piece of fiction in which the author seeks “to tell politics like a story, to communicate it, to make it real”, in her own words. Studying this text and this module allowed me to establish a clear perspective on the effects of the British Colonial Rule, urbanization of the natural world and the stripping of cultural and civil liberty from colonized peoples. This module especially enabled me and others to comprehend cultural awareness.

We discussed the demise and appropriation of indigenous culture in several colonized countries by Western powers in collaborative seminars. Students of different genders, ethnicities, religions and abilities knew we needed to be aware of our own and others’ cultures and positioning. The diversity of the University and thus diversity of the seminars means people of a multitude of ethnicities, religions, genders and abilities can educate each other and we can have an insight into various perspectives.  

I am now at the point in my third year of writing my dissertation – certainly the tensest time as a student. I am writing it about the exploitation of Black people, with my primary text being Get Out, a horror film by Jordan Peele, who is one of my favourite directors. Though it isn't finished yet, I had to mention this because it has educated me profoundly along with the prior texts I have mentioned.

His work is a horror satire of the experience of an African-American person today. This has educated me on the prevalent issues of racism and white elitism in America that persists in society today. All in all, studying English Literature has taught me so much about diversity and the significance of cultural awareness, that I will utilize in my future life.