A literary canon does not consist of a fixed set of rules, but is always subject to revision. Since socio-political power－mostly white, middle-class male－influences the formation of canons, minority writers, in one way or another, tend to be excluded in spite of their literary excellence per se. Tillie Olsen is one of those writers who have not received deserved praise because of the unfair criteria. Inevitably, an issue of canon is closely related to teaching methodology, and a fossilized canon can produce outmoded pedagogy, and vice versa. Based on personal experiences in teaching Olsen's "I Stand Here Ironing" and "Tell Me a Riddle," this paper reviews various responses from the students, both American and Korean. Whereas American students enjoy interactions with the other students as well as the teacher in the classroom, Korean students, in general, show a reserved attitude toward class activities. However, regardless of their backgrounds, both students appreciate Olsen's stories and her vision as a realistic idealist: people suffer in reality, yet they never lose hope in the future. The ultimate purpose of writing this paper is, in fact, to introduce Olsen to Korean readers. Even though Olsen isn't known as a major writer yet, literary scholars as well as the general reading public have taken notice of her work, due to feminists' efforts to unearth women writers, in the last twenty years. However, in Korea where anti-communist sentiment has been dominant, a socialist writer like Olsen has been a taboo. Olsen deserves more attention in that while she depicts the particular lives of less privileged people, she never sentimentalizes them, but instead successfully shows us the meaning of universal human dignity.

A literary canon does not consist of a fixed set of rules, but is always subject to revision. Since socio-political power－mostly white, middle-class male－influences the formation of canons, minority writers, in one way or another, tend to be excluded in spite of their literary excellence per se. Tillie Olsen is one of those writers who have not received deserved praise because of the unfair criteria. Inevitably, an issue of canon is closely related to teaching methodology, and a fossilized canon can produce outmoded pedagogy, and vice versa. Based on personal experiences in teaching Olsen's "I Stand Here Ironing" and "Tell Me a Riddle," this paper reviews various responses from the students, both American and Korean. Whereas American students enjoy interactions with the other students as well as the teacher in the classroom, Korean students, in general, show a reserved attitude toward class activities. However, regardless of their backgrounds, both students appreciate Olsen's stories and her vision as a realistic idealist: people suffer in reality, yet they never lose hope in the future. The ultimate purpose of writing this paper is, in fact, to introduce Olsen to Korean readers. Even though Olsen isn't known as a major writer yet, literary scholars as well as the general reading public have taken notice of her work, due to feminists' efforts to unearth women writers, in the last twenty years. However, in Korea where anti-communist sentiment has been dominant, a socialist writer like Olsen has been a taboo. Olsen deserves more attention in that while she depicts the particular lives of less privileged people, she never sentimentalizes them, but instead successfully shows us the meaning of universal human dignity.

literary canon, pedagogy, feminism, Tillie Olsen, “I Stand Here Ironing,” “Tell Me a Riddle”