Dear Poodles,
I'd like to get something off my chest (figuratively). A few weeks before, Outlander author Diana Gabaldon replied to a fan on Twitter asking advice on her selection of a major. She claimed she was an aspiring writer hoping to study English to which Gabaldon tweeted:
English major = “Want fries with that?” 🍟. Pick something that will give you enough money to write what you want.
As an English undergraduate in my third and final year, I took serious offence. I may just be overly emotional since my last ever seminar as an undergraduate was this Friday and so the next time I see my lecturers and friends will be on the day of our graduation but. that. was. not. okay. I'm more disappointed with Diana Gabaldon than angry because I love her Outlander book series (the two that I've read so far) and I used to thank her every other day for blessing the fictional universe with the character of Jamie Fraser.
To add insult to injury, Gabaldon decides to explain herself (badly) on twitlonger.com:
ENGLISH MAJORS, in 140 CHARACTERS (or less) So, yesterday, as I was driving from Santa Fe to Scottsdale, I (cont) http://tl.gd/n_1spmnl5
Everything wrong with what she said:
> The insult to food service industry:
For some employers in this industry, the job is their main source of livelihood.
> Highlighting that two of her children completed English degrees but one took a nursing degree soon after and the other is a successful novelist and comic book writer despite not viewing the degree 'of value [...] to someone who wants to write for a living.'
While I am an aspiring writer - have been since the age of ten - I did not necessarily choose to study English because it would make me an overnight bestselling author the second my graduation cap was flung into the air. That's not what happens. Nor does it happen to any other degree - unless you have an internship secured at Penguin or KPMG in the months prior (good on you).
> Suggesting any occupational degree is better than one in English because the practical skills are desired for employment.
The critical and analytical skills that I have honed at university mean that I can read or hear a piece of information from the news or social media and form my own judgement. My ability to skim/speed read or balance reading several texts play to my advantage when it comes to deadlines as a journalist or presenter. Knowing also how to tailor my writing in an email or letter or over the phone comes from assignments set up as blogs, essays or blurbs.
> Boasting the 'five university degrees' between her husband and herself and the abundance of choice her children had before going to college.
It's clear that Diana Gabaldon comes from a privileged background and that's grand and all but many students do not possess the luxury or funding to be so carefree. In the current political and economic climate, university fees are only getting more expensive making the choice of 'the degree' even more important (and stressful).
> Thinking the content of her dabble in an English minor from the 70s has remained somewhat similar to English degrees in 2017.
After three years at it, I can proudly say that my degree has been one of the most valuable things I've done so far. I'll explain how. Yes, we read three or four novels, plays or poems a week that range from the Medieval, Renaissance, Postcolonial (my favourite) and modern age but the exposure to the 'cultural history' as Gabaldon phrases it is far greater now in a world that is demanding more diversity in literature and institutions alike. This representation varies across universities but it is the one that I attended in East London that made me 'woke'. A popular term originating from the 2013 'Black Lives Matter' movement, 'woke' is used to describe someone who thinks for themselves and is aware of how racism, classism and sexism affects our daily lives.
Some of the best books that I've discovered came through my degree (and I'll update this post-graduation). They are:
- Dreaming of Baghdad by Haifa Zangana (about the psychological trauma of Iraqis under Saddam's regime)
- Things Fall Apart by China Achebe (breaking racial prejudice surrounding rural Africans)
- The Inheritance of Loss by Kiran Desai (which highlights the beauty and difficulty of migration).
- Dreaming of Baghdad by Haifa Zangana (about the psychological trauma of Iraqis under Saddam's regime)
- Things Fall Apart by China Achebe (breaking racial prejudice surrounding rural Africans)
- The Inheritance of Loss by Kiran Desai (which highlights the beauty and difficulty of migration).
Was anything she said right?
Diana Gabaldon should have saved herself the trouble and just replied to the aspiring writer in 140 characters that no degree guarantees immediate stardom (if I just did it, she can). An English degree is as useful as any other degree. The world needs scientists and engineers just as much as it needs historians and artists.
I've always known that writing is a precarious lifestyle but if you've made it, YOU'VE MADE IT. However, having spoken to and being friends with several rising authors through my Instagram account, they frequently advise to have a stable job unless you're happy to eat takeaways for a long time. That's all sound, USEFUL, advice but discouraging a fellow writer from studying English is not. Especially when for many, the desire to write stemmed from a love of literature. How can you separate the two?
Study English. Or study what your heart (and reason) wills.
*** Did you study or are you studying an English degree? What did you make of Diana's tweet? ***
