{"title":"Anthropomorphic Characters in Children’s Literature","authors":"Vera Sotirovska, J. Kelley","doi":"10.1086/711054","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"Given the current climate of immigration discourse and proposed changes to US immigration policies, it is critical to examine how immigration is presented to society’s youngest readers. Because racial tension is embedded in immigration policies, children’s picture books with anthropomorphic characters offer the possibility of learning about immigration as a phenomenon removed from master narratives. We focus on five picture books with anthropomorphic characters and explore the portrayal of immigrants and their stories. Using critical multicultural analysis, we unpack stereotypes, storylines, relationships between characters, messages about different lifestyles, creators’ backgrounds and perspectives, and loaded words. Cultural character traits were used purposefully to unpack messages about acceptance or the lack thereof. The storylines emphasize the characters’ traits, agency, and strategies of inclusion. Parallels can be drawn between the current immigration discourse and the books’ storylines, making the books appropriate resources to address immigration topics in the elementary education classroom.","PeriodicalId":48010,"journal":{"name":"Elementary School Journal","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.2000,"publicationDate":"2020-11-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1086/711054","citationCount":"16","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Elementary School Journal","FirstCategoryId":"95","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1086/711054","RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"教育学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q2","JCRName":"EDUCATION & EDUCATIONAL RESEARCH","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 16
Abstract
Given the current climate of immigration discourse and proposed changes to US immigration policies, it is critical to examine how immigration is presented to society’s youngest readers. Because racial tension is embedded in immigration policies, children’s picture books with anthropomorphic characters offer the possibility of learning about immigration as a phenomenon removed from master narratives. We focus on five picture books with anthropomorphic characters and explore the portrayal of immigrants and their stories. Using critical multicultural analysis, we unpack stereotypes, storylines, relationships between characters, messages about different lifestyles, creators’ backgrounds and perspectives, and loaded words. Cultural character traits were used purposefully to unpack messages about acceptance or the lack thereof. The storylines emphasize the characters’ traits, agency, and strategies of inclusion. Parallels can be drawn between the current immigration discourse and the books’ storylines, making the books appropriate resources to address immigration topics in the elementary education classroom.
期刊介绍:
The Elementary School Journal has served researchers, teacher educators, and practitioners in the elementary and middle school education for over one hundred years. ESJ publishes peer-reviewed articles dealing with both education theory and research and their implications for teaching practice. In addition, ESJ presents articles that relate the latest research in child development, cognitive psychology, and sociology to school learning and teaching. ESJ prefers to publish original studies that contain data about school and classroom processes in elementary or middle schools while occasionally publishing integrative research reviews and in-depth conceptual analyses of schooling.