Literature in Argentinian High School. An Interpretation about the Curriculum of the beginning of 21th Century

Making up a literary canon to teach literature is an ideological and institutional operation which involves selecting and excluding works and authors and defining manners of reading. In the particular case of teaching literature in high school, making up a canon is also a political operation because the State makes a national literary tradition through the curriculum, in order to educate future citizens. This operation seems to be carried out mainly historical dates which carry special significance for a country. In this presentation, associated with research Discursos recontextualizadores oficiales sobre la lectura en la Provincia de Buenos Aires (2003-2011), we intend to analyze some points related to teaching literature by comparing two different significant times in Argentinian history: the May's Revolution Centenary (1910) and its Bicentenary (2010). In spite of being separated by a century, our comparison shows some important similarities between both times as far as teaching literature is concerned.