CHL208: Multicultural Children’s Literature

1. CHL208: Multicultural Children’s Literature History, Definitions, Questions

2. Brief History Nancy Larrick’s groundbreaking article: “The All-White World of Children’s Books” was a 1965 study of more than 5,000 picture books.

3. History • Larrick found that out of the more than 5,000 picture books she studied, less than one percent reflected any contemporary images of African Americans. • Literature (like much art) is connected to larger social/political movements. • What is happening before, during, and after the 1960s in the U.S.?

4. History • In 1998 (according to a study by the Cooperative Children’s Book Center), six percent of children’s books published that year were written or illustrated by a person of color and/or had themes representing minority cultures. At the time, 30 percent of the U.S. population was non-white.

5. History • The Center did a follow-up study in 2004 and found that multicultural titles had increased to 11 percent of the books published for younger readers.

6. However, • Some major publishers are still convinced that “diversity and brown-skinned faces are trendy” (Macbeth 50). • Therefore, many books with minority characters or covering minority themes are published by small, independent presses who specialize in minority literature. • Why do you think this is? Why don’t major presses publish more multicultural texts?

7. 1.Charlotte's Web, E. B. White 2.The Outsiders, S. E. Hinton 3.Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing, Judy Blume 4.Love You Forever, Robert Munsch 5.Where the Red Fern Grows, Wilson Rawls 6.Island of the Blue Dolphins, Scott O'Dell 7.Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone 8.Are You There, God? It's Me, Margaret, Judy Blume 9.Shane, Jack Schaeffer 10.The Indian in the Cupboard, Lynne Reid Banks 11.A Wrinkle in Time, Madeleine L'Engle 12.Little House on the Prairie, Laura Ingalls Wilder 13.Little House in the Big Woods, Laura Ingalls Wilder 14.The Incredible Journey, Sheila Burnford 15.The Little Prince, Antoine de Saint-Exup 16.Johnny Tremain, Esther Forbes 17.Just Me and My Dad, Mercer Mayer 18.Go Ask Alice, Anonymous 19.Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets. J. K. Rowling 20.Otherwise Known as Sheila the Great, Judy Blume 21.Blubber, Judy Blume . . . From Publisher’s Weekly Best selling children’s books:

8. Forces that shape literature • Works of children’s literature are not only shaped by the imagination of the writer. They are also shaped by other forces: • Business/profit • Cultural expectations and norms • School curricula

9. Many argue that • We have made progress, but still have an almost all-white world of children’s literature in 2008. • This history and these statistics play a role in defining and categorizing multicultural literature, definitions largely shaped by social and political motivations.

10. Definition No. 1 • One Definition of Multicultural Children’s Literature is: • Literature written by and about under-represented minority cultures.

11. Pro: Because books by and about minority cultures are not published or taught enough, we need to rectify this situation and encourage the production of more books by minority writers. Con: This definition limits the number of books that “count” as multicultural literature and assumes that all books by writers outside of a culture will be negative or inauthentic. Literature written by and about under-represented minority cultures.

12. Under this definition, for instance, this book does not count as genuine multicultural literature. Should it? Why or why not?

13. Exclusions and Distortions • “Historically, children’s literature has reflected the ideology of the dominant culture in society. This ideology, indicative of a primarily white authorship, reinforces a selective tradition in which ‘certain meanings . . . are selected for emphasis and certain other meanings . . . are neglected or excluded’ (Williams). The exclusion and distortions of oppressed groups in children’s literature not only reflect but also perpetuate societal racism and inequitable social relations” (Noll).

14. Here’s an example to illustrate what they mean: • The picture book, Little Black Sambo was a very popular book in the U.S. in the early- and mid- twentieth century. • It was written in 1898 by a white British woman named Helen Bannerman. Several different illustrators have illustrated it over the years. • What stereotypes do you notice in the following text and illustrations?

15. Little Black Sambo • “Once upon a time, there was a little black boy, and his name was Little Black Sambo . . .”

16. Little Black Sambo • “And his mother was called Black Mumbo”

17. Little Black Sambo • “And his father was called Black Jumbo.”

18. Another example: • I’m going to read Five Chinese Brothers to the class. • Pay close attention to the illustrations.

19. One Asian child’s reaction to Five Chinese Brothers: • “When I was a child, the teacher read, ‘Once upon a time, there were five Chinese brothers and they all looked exactly alike’ Cautiously the pairs of eyes stole a quick glance back. I, the child, looked down to the floor . . . The teacher turned the book our way: bilious yellow skin, slanted slit eyes. Not only were the brothers look-alikes, but so were all the other characters! . . . Quickly again all eyes flashed back at me . . . I sank into my seat” (Aoki 382).

20. Handout • Here’s a current “lesson plan” for ways teachers can use the book, Five Chinese Brothers, to teach children about Chinese Culture. • Break into groups of three. • Read the handout. • What, exactly, do we “learn” about Chinese culture through this book and these exercises?

21. Pro: avoids both intentional and unintentional prejudice that oftentimes makes it’s way into texts written and/or illustrated by authors outside of a culture about minority characters, themes, cultures, and situations. Con: Defines authorship and authenticity in narrow ways. People who counter this argument argue that authors often do careful research in order to accurately portray cultures and characters unlike themselves. “Literature written by and about under-represented minority cultures”

22. Defintion No. 2: A bit broader than Definition No. 1: • Quality literature that accurately, realistically, and sensitively depicts minority cultures. • But, of course, all terms like these (“quality,” “accuracy,” “realistically,” “authentically,” etc.) are fairly vague and hard to define.

23. Work through handout in groups • Break into groups of three. • Read over the handout, “Guidelines for Selecting Multicultural Children’s Literature.” • Make a list of pros and cons to discuss the list of guidelines: Are there books or themes that are excluded? Are there terms that are hard to pin down? Make a list of terms you think we need to work to define more as the term progresses. Try to define them.

24. Other definitions, each w/ pros and cons • Two different viewpoints: Literature about under-represented minority cultures in the U.S. vs. literature of many diverse cultures from around the world. • One scholar says, specifically, the definition of M.C. lit should include stories about people who have already immigrated to the U.S., but not stories about people living in other countries. Why would she make this distinction? Pros and cons?

25. More definitions . . . • Some define “multi-cultural” in terms of race and ethnicity. • Some add religion, some don’t. • Some add disability, sexual orientation, region, etc., some don’t. • I include what I call “border texts,” texts that explore interactions among different cultural groups in those border spaces where cultures meet and clash, but many don’t.

26. There are limits though . . . • If we include all literature, then we’re back to where we started (the all-white world) because most people still equate “literature” with white writers (see best seller list--think about the “classics” you were taught in high school). For me, this leads to a final, different definition: literature depicting something other than dominant mainstream culture, which is culturally specific and attempts to define/explain that culture for outsiders. . . . But we have more time to work on this . . .

27. For next class: • As you read Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry for next class period, think about the purpose of the text: When was it written? What do we learn from this book? Is it positive or negative? Authentic? Accurate? How can we tell? Why might it be necessary to teach? And, conversely, why is it banned in so many school systems?