Don't throw the tiger out with the bathwater: Intersections of anthropomorphic and diverse children's literature
Title and/or Affiliation
Assistant Professor of Early, Middle, and Exceptional Education at Millersville University
Presenter Bio
Sarah Jackson teaches education courses at Millersville University. She researches how young readers and writers can engage in humanizing and anti-racist work, particularly through literature and creative pedagogies. She is compelled by anthropomorphic picturebooks that bring up questions about what it means to be human and who gets to count as human.
Session
Workshop: Anthropomorphism and Animal Others
Location
Zoom
Start Date
9-7-2022 11:00 AM
End Date
9-7-2022 12:15 PM
Abstract
In this presentation, I examine some of the tensions between anthropomorphic and diverse literature. I first propose a framework to help us consider the intersections of a.) children’s literature by and about marginalized people and b.) anthropomorphic texts. I then draw on both literature analysis and qualitative research to make a case for the need to pay particular attention to diverse stories that feature both human and nonhuman characters. In particular, I highlight specific invitations to rich and engaging cultural understanding present to some of the very youngest readers in Julie Kim’s (2017) graphic narrative, Where’s Halmoni?
Ultimately, I argue that despite the dehumanizing legacy of anthropomorphic children’s literature, exemplary anthropomorphic books like Where’s Halmoni? (Kim, 2017) can help children and adults alike engage with diverse books as mirrors and/or windows (Bishop, 1990) as they encounter nuanced depictions of underrepresented cultures.
Don't throw the tiger out with the bathwater: Intersections of anthropomorphic and diverse children's literature
Zoom
In this presentation, I examine some of the tensions between anthropomorphic and diverse literature. I first propose a framework to help us consider the intersections of a.) children’s literature by and about marginalized people and b.) anthropomorphic texts. I then draw on both literature analysis and qualitative research to make a case for the need to pay particular attention to diverse stories that feature both human and nonhuman characters. In particular, I highlight specific invitations to rich and engaging cultural understanding present to some of the very youngest readers in Julie Kim’s (2017) graphic narrative, Where’s Halmoni?
Ultimately, I argue that despite the dehumanizing legacy of anthropomorphic children’s literature, exemplary anthropomorphic books like Where’s Halmoni? (Kim, 2017) can help children and adults alike engage with diverse books as mirrors and/or windows (Bishop, 1990) as they encounter nuanced depictions of underrepresented cultures.