Leslie Kinton asks, "Since when was it a primary purpose of art to
effect social change."  With respect to literature in English, I
would argue that effecting social change has been a primary purpose
since the time of Chaucer. His decision to write in English, rather
than in the prestige dialects of French or Latin, probably indicates
a desire to "reform" literature and/or his audiences, as well as
entertain them. The Elizabethans cultivated the powerful assiduously
and tended to affirm that whatever was was right. John Milton, however,
used literature as a tool and a weapon, as did Jonathan Swift. The Romantics
all had various kinds of social change in view - though we don't often
teach and read them that way - and their understanding of the relation
of the artist to society only deepened in the works of writers of the
late 19th and 20th century. In American literature, I think Twain must
rank as a strong reformer, especially as he got older and his satire
became sharper and darker.

Gus Sponberg
Valparaiso University