The Border Crossed Us: Children's Literature of the Chicano Movement
Title and/or Affiliation
Cristina Rhodes, Shippensburg University
Presenter Bio
Cris Rhodes teaches multiethnic literature at Shippensburg University. She researches children's literature and other materials that engage Latinx youth and their experiences. Her book, Facing Uncertain Futures: The Transformative Possibilities of Latinx Youth Literatures, is forthcoming. Additionally, she is the Book Review co-editor for Research on Diversity in Youth Literature.
Session
Panel: Border Crossing
Location
Zoom
Start Date
29-6-2024 2:45 PM
End Date
29-6-2024 4:00 PM
Abstract
Writing in 1975, the Council on Interracial Books for Children (CIBC) noted that Chicanx literature for young readers “fail[ed] woefully” and, as a result, “[o]ne can only conclude that the effect of these books on a Chicano child’s self-image is a decidedly negative one. They undermine self-confidence, encourage dependency and feelings of helplessness, sap pride in culture and language and encourage the self-deprecating aspects of a sense of ‘otherness’." This proclamation came in their special issue on Chicano materials, released less than a decade after the Chicano Movement ended. That the CIBC made such an assessment at this time speaks to the dearth of materials that captured Chicanx adolescence in the early half of the twentieth century. Nevertheless, given the prominence of adolescents in the Movement, an analysis of how literature constructs the unique and discrete Chicanx youth identity provides a new vantage point into studies of literature and Chicanidad. Ultimately, the Chicano Movement’s political dimensions shifted perceptions of and ideologies underpinning Chicanx adolescence and their capabilities.
The Border Crossed Us: Children's Literature of the Chicano Movement
Zoom
Writing in 1975, the Council on Interracial Books for Children (CIBC) noted that Chicanx literature for young readers “fail[ed] woefully” and, as a result, “[o]ne can only conclude that the effect of these books on a Chicano child’s self-image is a decidedly negative one. They undermine self-confidence, encourage dependency and feelings of helplessness, sap pride in culture and language and encourage the self-deprecating aspects of a sense of ‘otherness’." This proclamation came in their special issue on Chicano materials, released less than a decade after the Chicano Movement ended. That the CIBC made such an assessment at this time speaks to the dearth of materials that captured Chicanx adolescence in the early half of the twentieth century. Nevertheless, given the prominence of adolescents in the Movement, an analysis of how literature constructs the unique and discrete Chicanx youth identity provides a new vantage point into studies of literature and Chicanidad. Ultimately, the Chicano Movement’s political dimensions shifted perceptions of and ideologies underpinning Chicanx adolescence and their capabilities.