Children’s Literature through an Americanized Scope

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Susan Louise Stewart addresses non-western depictions by westerners in Gloria Whelan’s Homeless Bird and Deborah Ellis’s Parvana’s Journey in her article “Beyond Borders: Reading ‘Other’ Places in Children’s Literature.” Stewart claims that multicultural texts are significant, and that diverse perspectives in conjunction with western existence and beliefs are poignant to a young student’s education. But multicultural literature is dismal, in regards to works about other places and experiences by non-westerners with a lack of the “other” and its representations in the western canon. Stewart presents asymmetrical arguments on the two North American authors and their texts as she outlines the strengths and weaknesses that can arise when depicting the non-west by the west. Stewart claims the importance of being conscious of appropriation, authorial ideological agendas, and the Americanized narrative in representations of the non-west by westerners. Products of nationhood, these factors can create a skewed sense of the other in order to comprehend international texts that fall outside of the western perspective. Stewart illustrates the lack of international voices in children’s literature with statistics of the published authors’ nationality and non-white status. She considers together books that are written by particular groups with books that are written about particular groups. This presents the idea that a writer of multicultural heritage will ultimately depict situations about their lineage, which may not be the case. This belief regarding authorial intent contradicts the aim of white authors who write about what is foreign; the designated other. Stewart’s statement that “it is disconcerting to note that more books are written a... ... middle of paper ... ...templates for strong and weak western narratives of other places but lacks literary rigor. Even so, both are equally important for the education of young people in a larger, global setting with diverse experiences and cultures trying to understand one another. She draws attention to voice appropriation, authorial national ideological agendas, and the Americanized slant in representations of the non-west by westerners. The presence of Americanized interpretation and editing can cause a crooked depiction of the other, ultimately telling us more about ourselves than about them. Work Cited Stewart, Susan Louise. “Beyond Borders: Reader ‘Other’ Places in Children’s Literature.” Children’s Literature in Education 39.2 (2008): 95-105. Springer E-Books. Proxy. Queen’s University Lib., Kingston. 1 Nov. 2010 < http://www.springerlink.com.proxy.queensu.ca/books/ >

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