Download
1 / 8
80 likes | 196 Views
Multicultural Literature & Young Adolescents. Why should there be a genre devoted to m ulticultural literature?. There is clearly a need to have narratives that reflect other realities and lived experiences
E N D
Why should there be a genre devoted to multicultural literature? There is clearly a need to have narratives that reflect other realities and lived experiences Students of different diversities (ethnicity, race, class, religion, sexual orientation) need to see themselves reflected in the literature Stories enable students to gain empathy for and understanding of how other people live
Printz Award http://ala.org/ala/mgrps/divs/yalsa/booklistsawards/printzaward/Printz.cfm#current There are many more books that describe young people who come from different countries whose families immigrate to the U.S. Esperanza Rising by Pam Munoz Ryan (Mexico) A Step from Heaven by An Na (Korea) Ashes to Roses by Mary Jane Auch (Ireland)
The Question of Authenticity & Diversity Many authors whose cultural background is outside the mainstream will often say they became writers because when they were young they could not see themselves reflected in the literature. Many authors from outside the mainstream culture say that anyone can write stories about characters not of their same culture, but it is difficult to do.
Joseph Bruchac (author) “I am very dissatisfied with the majority of YA books “about” Native Americans that have been written by non-Natives. I think a lot of Indian people today are not happy with the way they and their cultures have been (and continue to be) treated by non-Native writers. The stereotypes and attendant blindness about the truth of Indian realities are so engrained that few non-Indians are able to avoid making the sorts of mistakes that make Indians groan”
Judith Ortiz Cofer (author) “…I need to understand that you have an inner life before I can be sympathetic to you. You need to get past the language barriers and idiosyncracies, get past the fact that the character is black to see that the story is about love or hate or suffering, that the characters in the story share the basics of humanity.”
