Creating Similar Hearts from Slant-Eyed Tales: A Few Slant-Eyed Words on Asian American Children’s Literature

Year 2020, Volume: 3 Issue: 1, 26 - 38, 14.06.2020

Eren Alkan

Abstract

The books written for children have always been a controversial issue in literary studies. They are criticized by both critics and parents as well as teachers and curriculum designers in terms of their content and/or illustrations. A children’s book is chosen by a parent or a teacher according to her/his ideological points of view and socio-cultural background. If a book is written by an author from a minority group or it includes characters having different ethnic backgrounds, these points of view keep these parents and teachers at arm’s length. Also, children’s books are used to shape younger generations in favor of national politics and enculturation processes. That’s why there are too many stereotypes in these books: white male heroes, “ugly” monsters, poor, naïve and illiterate “others”. Specifically, in Asian American children’s literature, authors usually marginalize Asian American characters and describe them as “dead ringers”. However, after the Civil Rights Movement in the 1960s, more authors have started to describe Asian Americans from a universal perspective. By rejecting common stereotypes, they try to give some messages universal values such as friendship, cooperation, love of nature and living together as it is discussed in this article within the framework of descriptive analysis.

Keywords

children’s literature, Asian-American, minorities

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