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Questions of what constitutes culture have frequently sparked controversy and arguments about the validity and composition of English curricula. In particular, the selection of literary texts as cultural and historical artefacts for use in English lessons in increasingly diverse classrooms involves choices about both cultural values and cultural representation. As Eagleton (2016) reminds us, culture is one of the most complex words in the English language and may variously be taken to mean:

(1) A body of artistic and intellectual work; (2) a process of spiritual and intellectual development; (3) the values, customs, beliefs and symbolic practices by which men and women live; or (4) a whole way of life.