MULTICULTURAL LITERATURE

Prepared By: Norshazila bt. Roslee Nursha-Irma bt. Zainal Syaimaa bt. Abd. Halim

WHAT IS MULTICULTURAL LITERATURE?

"literature that represents any distinct cultural group through accurate portrayal and rich detail" (Yokota, 1993) Such literature appears in different genre which present a multitude of perspectives about the lives, culture, and contributions of each cultural group.

WHY SHOULD CHILDREN READ MULTICULTURAL LITERATURE?

Learn to appreciate literary heritage

Promote understanding and respect for people from other cultures

Improve their knowledge of the world

DIVERSITY THROUGH LITERATURE

fiction, nonfiction, folk tales, fairy tales, legends, or poetry etc. Due to different background of authors
Setting authors usually write based on their homeland and what is around them Story line authors own experiences are turned into literary works

WHAT CRITERIA CONSTITUTES GOOD MULTICULTURAL LITERATURE?

1.

Avoidance of racial or cultural stereotyping

Hispanics are lazy Jews are business people * German caricature from 1929, depicting Jewish greed - How do you get 50 Jews into a VW Beetle? Toss in a penny

2. Cultural details that are presented accurately

Dialects Food Customs Clothing

3.

Cultural authenticity

Those from within the culture feel that the book has accurately and honestly reflected their experiences and viewpoints giving readers an insight into the group that is depicted

WHAT ARE THE DIFFERENT TYPES OF MULTICULTURAL BOOKS?

1.

Neutral Include characters from cultural minorities - not centered to one particular culture.

2.

Generic Focus on a character representing a cultural group, but few details are included that aid in developing a cultural persona; the characters function as regular people existing in a large common culture Example: Dora the Explorer

3. Specific Incorporate specific cultural details that help define characters Examples:
The George Lopez Show Priya Rao in Mango Season

ISSUES IN CHILDRENS LITERATURE

Gender bias Boys tend to have roles as fighters, adventurers and rescuers, while girls in their passive role tend to be caretakers, mothers, princesses in need of rescuing, and characters that support the male figure (Temple, 1993) Ex: The Sleeping Beauty and Cinderella

Today, well-known childrens stories revolve around male characters, in contrast to the stories/ fairytales that were written in the older days Ex: Transformers, Harry Potter

Misconception

* There is always a risk that celebrating

differences may actually build up cultural barriers.