Multicultural Literature for Children and Young Adults: Reflections on Critical Issues (Contributions to the Study of World Literature) PDF
Preview Multicultural Literature for Children and Young Adults: Reflections on Critical Issues (Contributions to the Study of World Literature)
MULTICULTURAL LITERATURE FOR CHILDREN AND YOUNG ADULTS Recent Titles in Contributions to the Study of World Literature Essays on the Fiction of A.S. Byatt: Imagining the Real Alexa Alfer and Michael J. Noble, editors Victorian Writers and the Image of Empire: The Rose-Colored Vision Laurence Kitzan Immigrant Narratives in Contemporary France Susan Ireland and Patrice J. Proulx, editors Aristocracies of Fiction: The Idea of Aristocracy in Late Nineteenth-Century and Early Twentieth-Century Literary Culture hen Platt Salman Rushdie's Postcolonial Metaphors: Migration, Translation, Hybridity, Blasphemy, and Globalization Jaina C. Sanga Imagining Africa: Landscape in H. Rider Haggard's African Romances Lindy Stiebel Seduction and Death in Muriel Spark's Fiction Fotini E. Apostolou Unorthodox Views: Reflections on Reality, Truth, and Meaning in Current Social, Cultural, and Critical Discourse James L. Battersby Judgment and Justification in the Nineteenth-Century Novel of Adultery Maria R. Rippon The Late Modernism of Cormac McCarthy David Holloway The Colonial Conan Doyle: British Imperialism, Irish Nationalism, and the Gothic Catherine Wynne In My Own Shire: Region and Belonging in British Writing, 1840-1970 Stephen Wade MULTICULTURAL LITERATURE FOR CHILDREN AND YOUNG ADULTS Reflections on Critical Issues Mingshui Cai Contributions to the Study of World Literature, Number 116 GREENWOOD PRESS Westport, Connecticut • London Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Cai, Mingshui. Multicultural literature for children and young adults : reflections on critical issues / Mingshui Cai. p. cm.—(Contributions to the study of world literature, ISSN 0738-9345 ; no. 116) Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 0-313-31244-3 (alk. paper) 1. Children's literature—History and criticism. 2. Young adult literature—History and criticism. 3. Pluralism (Social sciences) in literature. 4. Multiculturalism. I. Title. II. Series. PN1009.A1C29 2002 809'.89282-<lc21 2002017139 British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data is available. Copyright © 2002 by Mingshui Cai All rights reserved. No portion of this book may be reproduced, by any process or technique, without the express written consent of the publisher. Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 2002017139 ISBN: 0-313-31244-3 ISSN: 0738-9345 First published in 2002 Greenwood Press, 88 Post Road West, Westport, CT 06881 An imprint of Greenwood Publishing Group, Inc. www. greenwood.com Printed in the United States of America @r The paper used in this book complies with the Permanent Paper Standard issued by the National Information Standards Organization (Z39.48-1984). 10 9 8 7 6 5 43 Copyright Acknowledgments The author and publisher gratefully acknowledge permission for use of the following: Excerpts from Cai, Mingshui, "Can We Fly Across Cultural Gaps on the Wings of Imagina tion?" (1995). The New Advocate, 8 (1): 1-16. Excerpts from Cai, Mingshui, "Multiple Definitions of Multicultural Literature: Is the Debate Really Just Tvory Tower'?" The New Advocate 11 (4): 311-324. Excerpts reprinted by permission of the publisher from Rogers, T., & Soter, A.O. (Eds.). Read ing Across Cultures: Teaching Literature in a Diverse Society, (New York: Teachers College Press. © 1997 by Teachers College, Columbia University. All rights reserved.), pp. 199-212. Excerpts from Cai, Mingshui, & Sims Bishop, Rudine. (1994). "Multicultural Literature for Children: Towards a Clarification of the Concept." In Anne Haas Dyson & Celia Genishi (Eds.), The Need for Story: Cultural Diversity in Classroom and Community (pp. 57-71). Ur- bana, IL: National Council of Teachers of English. Copyright 1994 by the National Council of Teachers of English, Reprinted with permission. To my wife, Jianrong, and son, Shuofeng Contents Acknowledgments xi Introduction xiii Part I: Issues Related to the Concept of Multicultural Literature 1 1. Defining Multicultural Literature 3 Literary and Pedagogical Definitions 3 The Focal Point of the Controversy 5 Three Views on the Definition of Multicultural Literature 6 Implications for Teachers and Teacher Educators 13 2 . Classifying Multicultural Literature 19 Classification by Content and Intended Audience 20 Classification by Cultural Specificity 22 Classification by Geographical and Cultural Boundaries 25 Part II: Issues Related to the Creation and Critique of Multicultural Literature 35 3 . Imagination, Ethnicity, and Cultural Authenticity 37 The Crux of the Issue 38 Cultural Boundaries 39 Ethnic Perspective 41 Brute Facts 42 A Comparative Study of Two Novels 46 Concluding Thoughts 48 4 . Reader Response Theory and the Author's Role in Multicultural Literature 53 The Role of the Author in Reader Response Theory 54 The Real Author and the Implied Author 58 Vlll Contents The Author's Cultural Identity in Multicultural Literature 62 5 . Stereotyping and the Politics of Representation 67 Definition of Stereotype 68 The Social-Political Nature of Stereotype 69 The Detrimental Effects of Stereotypes 70 The Cultural War over Image Making 72 Stereotypes as Partial Truth 74 Viewing Images in the Big Picture 75 Stereotypes and Historical Realism 78 Concluding Thoughts 81 6 . Cultural Correctness and the Evaluation of Multicultural Literature 87 Culturally Correct 88 Politically Correct 92 Emotionally Correct 94 Analyzing Content Analysis as a Means of Evaluation 96 "Overburdening" Criticism 99 Embedding Cultural Criticism in Close Literary Analysis 104 Cultural Correctness and Reader Response Theory 107 Concluding Thoughts 109 Part III: Issues Related to the Use of Multicultural Literature in Education 115 7 . Crossing Cultural Borders 117 Defining Cultural Borders 117 Examining One Assumption 118 Critiquing One Approach 120 Reading Myths, Archetypes, and Universal Themes 123 Combating Color Bias 127 Against Borders 129 8 . From Informing to Empowering 133 Informing and Empowering 134 Starting to Empower Children from the Primary Grades 137 From Informing to Empowering in Thematic Units 139 Critique of one Approach to the Study of Multicultural Literature 143 Reading Multiculturally as a Means of Empowering 145 Opportunities for Teachers to Inform and Empower Themselves 148 9. Investigating Reader Responses to Multicultural Literature 153 A Multidimensional Model 154 Cognitive-Developmental Dimension 155 Affective-Attitudinal Dimension 15 9 Social-Communal Dimension 167 Concluding Thoughts 171 Contents IX Appendix: Websites Related to Multicultural Literature 177 Selected Bibliography 185 Index 195
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