"Insider" vs. "Outsider" Authors

Before taking TE 348 I did not look past the story line of a book. If I enjoyed reading the book I would have considered it a good book. TE 348 taught me to look deeper into the books that I would choose to put in my classroom library. I learned to look at the bibliographic information, literary elements, artistic elements, creativity and presentation, and author’s credibility and perspective. These factors allowed me to critically look at a book and make an informed decision on whether it was a book I would select for my classroom library.

Now in TE 448 I have run into another element of looking critically at books, does the author of the book have an effect on whether it is authentic and a good book. Are books only considered good diverse literature if they are written by a “insider”? Before reading the articles I felt that books written by insiders were the best books to have in a classroom library because they “had to be authentic and a good representation of the culture, religion, gender or race.” I assumed that “insiders” wrote better books than “outsiders” because of their experiences and knowledge within the subject. But after reading Rudine Bishop’s article I felt better about these questions. She feels that books should be defined by their content not by who the author of the book is or what they identify with. Bishop strongly expresses the need for an author to know a culture very “intimately” before attempting to build a story around it. The best thing for an author to do is be culturally conscious or make sure the content of their book is correct, and if the content is authentic then it does not matter how the author identifies themselves. It seems that the other authors of the assigned articles agree, if the content is authentic, valid, and a positive representation then it is not important if the author is an “outsider” or and “insider”.

The more I thought about it, I realized that one person from a culture, religion, gender, or race can not speak for all of the people or about a whole culture anyway. Just because I grew up in Michigan does not make me an expert on being American. I am also white but that does not mean I can speak for the entire white race. Everyone is different even if they identify with the same group. So I agree with the articles and their authors, the content is what is most important. I no longer believe that an “insider” makes a piece of literature more authentic.

Introduction

First, I would like to introduce myself. I am a senior at Michigan State University with a focus in Elementary education and a minor in Language Arts. I am writing this blog to discuss matters from a class I am currently taking called Issues of Diversity in Children's and Adolescents Literature. I am looking forward to reading the sampling of literature chosen for us. I also am interested in looking at the power of images, parallel cultures, class, religion, ability, gender and sexuality within each of the texts. I am hoping my blog may allow me to further our class discussions, while gaining experience with a new technology.

I am interested in diverse literature because I am specifically interested in literacy within education. I feel that it is extremely important to expose children and adolescents to diverse literature during these formative years. This exposure can make a difference in the lives of your students by allowing them to see themselves in the literature or by allowing your students to use the literature as a window into other cultures.