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Which voices have critics argued were excluded from the traditional literary canon?

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Antique book open to the frontispiece of The Iliad of Homer, showing the title and an engraved portrait of a bearded man, with old books in the background. — literature *The Iliad*, an epic of the Trojan War attributed to the ancient Greek poet Homer, is considered a foundational work of Western literature.

The traditional literary canon, often defined as a collection of "great works," has historically been dominated by white European men. Because of this, critics have long argued that this canon has systematically excluded a wide range of voices, leading to significant debates regarding the standards used to assess literary excellence.1

The exclusion of diverse perspectives has prompted a critical re-examination of who is represented in literature. Scholars and writers have highlighted the need for a more inclusive approach that reflects the full complexity of human experience, particularly regarding:

African American voices: Writers such as James Baldwin, Ralph Ellison, and Toni Morrison have been instrumental in documenting the Black experience, challenging earlier traditions of social protest, and incorporating diverse cultural influences like folk traditions and magic realism into the literary landscape.2
Postcolonial perspectives: Postcolonialism addresses the aftermath of imperialism, focusing on the voices of the colonized. Theorists like Frantz Fanon have analyzed how imperial structures imposed alien rule over the minds and bodies of non-European peoples, critiquing the universal principles of Western political thought that often justified such exclusion.3

These critiques emphasize that literature is a broad body of writing, and the ongoing debate over the canon is essential for ensuring that literary history acknowledges the contributions of all people.1