Heng, Geraldine. "Teaching early global literatures." Throughlines. www.throughlines.org/suite-content/teaching-early-global-literatures. [Date accessed].
History is understood through narrative. The stories that are written, repeated, and taught give shape to the past. By decentering European narratives in our teaching, we can expand the scope of historical understanding that our students carry with them into the world. Studying early global literatures shakes the preconceived notions about the past that students bring into the classroom, especially when they are introduced to early global civilizations that were far more complex and modern than Europe.
Further learning
Recommended
Language and race in The Man in the Moone
The Man in the Moone by Francis Godwin provides a genealogy of premodern anti-Asian sentiment. The collision of language and race, and the allegorical comparison of the Chinese to the Lunarians results in the alienation of Asian culture and language.
