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Evaluating Books by and about Ameican Indians . . . WHERE WE
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From: Eliza T. Dresang <edresang>
Date: Sat, 16 Oct 1999 08:40:01 -0400
I was away from CCBC-Net yesterday for most of the day, so when I got home a little before midnight, I had many messages to read and a great deal of thinking to do. I will share some of that thinking with you as we move on with our discussion of how to evaluate literature by and about American Indians.
I am going to start by summarizing where I hear agreement among the CCBC-net community who have spoken on this issue. Then, I'm going to summarize, to the best of my ability, the areas of disagreement. From here I will suggest how we might move on into the next phase of our discussion. I hope we will hear from more of you in the coming days.
WHERE WE AGREE:
Our discussion started with a focus on Louise Erdrich's The Birchbark House. Recently we learned that this book has been nominated for the National Book Award (the winner to be announced on Nov. 17), indicating the jury selecting this award agrees with the consensus among those who have spoken: that this book merits attention as a fine piece of literature. This summary will weave together both the general things (for want of a better word) that we look for in all books for youth and the things specific to evaluating this body of literature as suggested by Beverly Slapin from the work of oyate (www.oyate.org) (the criteria suggested by B. Slapin appear in quotes throughout the discussion)
Several commentaries were made about the character development. Judy O'Malley points to "vivid writing and characters who are complex and fully developed, never caricatures or types." If we "look for stereotypes", we do not find them -- neither by race nor by gender. Debbie Reese points to the
"portrayal of girls and women" in this book as largely unique and exemplary. "The women are strong. They work hard, yet there is joy, there is laughter. Nokomis tells the children stories, thereby passing down important information. In the building of their summer home, and in the work they do while there, they support each other and take pleasure in each other's company. In Old Tallow's decision to put her husband's belongings outside her door, we see a glimpse of the authority women held. "
If we "look for distortion of history," we also find none. If we "look at the lifeways" we find focus on "respect for native peoples and understanding of the sophistication and complexity of their society?" Perhaps this is because, as Kari Augustine pointed out, "characters have roots in primary documents Erdrich found, and in her own family history." Dean Schneider uses Erdrich's own words to point to only one of the multiple passages that exemplify the depth of character and the "at-oneness with" of Native life mentioned by Doris Seale in her review:
I was away from CCBC-Net yesterday for most of the day, so when I got home a little before midnight, I had many messages to read and a great deal of thinking to do. I will share some of that thinking with you as we move on with our discussion of how to evaluate literature by and about American Indians.
I am going to start by summarizing where I hear agreement among the CCBC-net community who have spoken on this issue. Then, I'm going to summarize, to the best of my ability, the areas of disagreement. From here I will suggest how we might move on into the next phase of our discussion. I hope we will hear from more of you in the coming days.
WHERE WE AGREE:
Our discussion started with a focus on Louise Erdrich's The Birchbark House. Recently we learned that this book has been nominated for the National Book Award (the winner to be announced on Nov. 17), indicating the jury selecting this award agrees with the consensus among those who have spoken: that this book merits attention as a fine piece of literature. This summary will weave together both the general things (for want of a better word) that we look for in all books for youth and the things specific to evaluating this body of literature as suggested by Beverly Slapin from the work of oyate (www.oyate.org) (the criteria suggested by B. Slapin appear in quotes throughout the discussion)
Several commentaries were made about the character development. Judy O'Malley points to "vivid writing and characters who are complex and fully developed, never caricatures or types." If we "look for stereotypes", we do not find them -- neither by race nor by gender. Debbie Reese points to the
"portrayal of girls and women" in this book as largely unique and exemplary. "The women are strong. They work hard, yet there is joy, there is laughter. Nokomis tells the children stories, thereby passing down important information. In the building of their summer home, and in the work they do while there, they support each other and take pleasure in each other's company. In Old Tallow's decision to put her husband's belongings outside her door, we see a glimpse of the authority women held. "
If we "look for distortion of history," we also find none. If we "look at the lifeways" we find focus on "respect for native peoples and understanding of the sophistication and complexity of their society?" Perhaps this is because, as Kari Augustine pointed out, "characters have roots in primary documents Erdrich found, and in her own family history." Dean Schneider uses Erdrich's own words to point to only one of the multiple passages that exemplify the depth of character and the "at-oneness with" of Native life mentioned by Doris Seale in her review:
p.238: "This was the first day of the journey on which she would find out the truth of her future, who she was....The birds, the whole earth, the expectant woods seemed to wait for her to understand something. She didn't know what. It didn't matter. Drowsily, she whistled along with the tiny sparrows."
He goes on to say that "this is pretty deep when you think about it. It places meaning as not something external, out there to be found, but more as something within us, part of our life, our story, our personal journey."
Mia adds to this that "Omakayas' people are clearly one-with the world around them, being full participants in the cycle of the island's life, rather than 'observers' of 'the natural world'."
The sense of place is strong. Maia continues with "Erdrich also does an excellent job at capturing the feel of the upper great lakes. She has a powerful, and accurate, sense of place; it was so lovely to read and think 'yes, that's just the way it feels'." Although Jonathan Hunt find sometimes "too many details," he dismissed this as a "minor quibble" in a fine book. Kritine Augustine praised the detail with this comment, " the richness of the history made explicit through the tasks which are undertaken, the clothing which catches on the rough ground, the glint of a gun barrel ground to sharp for use as a hide scraper, the curve of baby Neewo's cradleboard, the description of each Wisconsin season."
If we "look at the text and dialogue," we find nothing that seems stilted or false. Although one commentator found the Ojibway words were sometimes road blocks, another pointed out praised the "great glossary," and yet another found this added to the authenticity of the account. Uma Krishnaswami responds that "I actually enjoyed the sprinkling of Ojibwa words - it added flavor, and sometimes I don't think "slowing things down" is negative."
Finally, in our bevy of "evaluation criteria," we can look at the reader response. Several of you have given us points-of-view of children who have read The Birchbark House. Kate McClelland shared her experience that
"Birchbark House has been equally embraced by all young readers from grades 3 to 8." If we "look at the effects on a child's self-image," we heard Elizabeth say "I think others should read it, cause like I said before, its a unique book and if others miss out on that, I don't know what will happen. Because my culture doesn't get to be heard very often, and it is very very wonderful that this book is a good teacher for children like me."
(I met Liz at the USBBY conference, and, yes, she does speak in exactly this type of precise and articulate terms which some would question from an 8 year old).
So, it appears that with only "minor quibbles," we all agree that this book is outstanding in its character development, style, authenticity, and all other criteria we have chosen to apply. No book (and no person) is perfect. Nor does any one book contain all perspectives or possible happenings. But certainly this one is exemplary in our collective opinion. This discussion and this book provide a template for the evaluation of other historical
(and perhaps contemporary) fiction for youth. It is not "issue driven," but the issues are there, woven skillfully into a rich tapestry of lyric prose.
I am going to do a separate post on "WHERE WE DISAGREE" because this is already far too long for the "tolerance" of e-mail readers. I also invite anyone with further insights into either The Birchbark House or the application of evaluation criteria to it to add your voice to the discussion as we move forward.
Eliza
_________________________________________________________ Eliza T. Dresang, Associate Professor School of Information Studies/ Florida State University
Tallahassee, Florida 32306!00 e-mail: edresang at mailer.fsu.edu Phone: 850 644 5877 (w) FAX: 850 644 9763 (w)
Received on Sat 16 Oct 1999 07:40:01 AM CDT
Date: Sat, 16 Oct 1999 08:40:01 -0400
I was away from CCBC-Net yesterday for most of the day, so when I got home a little before midnight, I had many messages to read and a great deal of thinking to do. I will share some of that thinking with you as we move on with our discussion of how to evaluate literature by and about American Indians.
I am going to start by summarizing where I hear agreement among the CCBC-net community who have spoken on this issue. Then, I'm going to summarize, to the best of my ability, the areas of disagreement. From here I will suggest how we might move on into the next phase of our discussion. I hope we will hear from more of you in the coming days.
WHERE WE AGREE:
Our discussion started with a focus on Louise Erdrich's The Birchbark House. Recently we learned that this book has been nominated for the National Book Award (the winner to be announced on Nov. 17), indicating the jury selecting this award agrees with the consensus among those who have spoken: that this book merits attention as a fine piece of literature. This summary will weave together both the general things (for want of a better word) that we look for in all books for youth and the things specific to evaluating this body of literature as suggested by Beverly Slapin from the work of oyate (www.oyate.org) (the criteria suggested by B. Slapin appear in quotes throughout the discussion)
Several commentaries were made about the character development. Judy O'Malley points to "vivid writing and characters who are complex and fully developed, never caricatures or types." If we "look for stereotypes", we do not find them -- neither by race nor by gender. Debbie Reese points to the
"portrayal of girls and women" in this book as largely unique and exemplary. "The women are strong. They work hard, yet there is joy, there is laughter. Nokomis tells the children stories, thereby passing down important information. In the building of their summer home, and in the work they do while there, they support each other and take pleasure in each other's company. In Old Tallow's decision to put her husband's belongings outside her door, we see a glimpse of the authority women held. "
If we "look for distortion of history," we also find none. If we "look at the lifeways" we find focus on "respect for native peoples and understanding of the sophistication and complexity of their society?" Perhaps this is because, as Kari Augustine pointed out, "characters have roots in primary documents Erdrich found, and in her own family history." Dean Schneider uses Erdrich's own words to point to only one of the multiple passages that exemplify the depth of character and the "at-oneness with" of Native life mentioned by Doris Seale in her review:
I was away from CCBC-Net yesterday for most of the day, so when I got home a little before midnight, I had many messages to read and a great deal of thinking to do. I will share some of that thinking with you as we move on with our discussion of how to evaluate literature by and about American Indians.
I am going to start by summarizing where I hear agreement among the CCBC-net community who have spoken on this issue. Then, I'm going to summarize, to the best of my ability, the areas of disagreement. From here I will suggest how we might move on into the next phase of our discussion. I hope we will hear from more of you in the coming days.
WHERE WE AGREE:
Our discussion started with a focus on Louise Erdrich's The Birchbark House. Recently we learned that this book has been nominated for the National Book Award (the winner to be announced on Nov. 17), indicating the jury selecting this award agrees with the consensus among those who have spoken: that this book merits attention as a fine piece of literature. This summary will weave together both the general things (for want of a better word) that we look for in all books for youth and the things specific to evaluating this body of literature as suggested by Beverly Slapin from the work of oyate (www.oyate.org) (the criteria suggested by B. Slapin appear in quotes throughout the discussion)
Several commentaries were made about the character development. Judy O'Malley points to "vivid writing and characters who are complex and fully developed, never caricatures or types." If we "look for stereotypes", we do not find them -- neither by race nor by gender. Debbie Reese points to the
"portrayal of girls and women" in this book as largely unique and exemplary. "The women are strong. They work hard, yet there is joy, there is laughter. Nokomis tells the children stories, thereby passing down important information. In the building of their summer home, and in the work they do while there, they support each other and take pleasure in each other's company. In Old Tallow's decision to put her husband's belongings outside her door, we see a glimpse of the authority women held. "
If we "look for distortion of history," we also find none. If we "look at the lifeways" we find focus on "respect for native peoples and understanding of the sophistication and complexity of their society?" Perhaps this is because, as Kari Augustine pointed out, "characters have roots in primary documents Erdrich found, and in her own family history." Dean Schneider uses Erdrich's own words to point to only one of the multiple passages that exemplify the depth of character and the "at-oneness with" of Native life mentioned by Doris Seale in her review:
p.238: "This was the first day of the journey on which she would find out the truth of her future, who she was....The birds, the whole earth, the expectant woods seemed to wait for her to understand something. She didn't know what. It didn't matter. Drowsily, she whistled along with the tiny sparrows."
He goes on to say that "this is pretty deep when you think about it. It places meaning as not something external, out there to be found, but more as something within us, part of our life, our story, our personal journey."
Mia adds to this that "Omakayas' people are clearly one-with the world around them, being full participants in the cycle of the island's life, rather than 'observers' of 'the natural world'."
The sense of place is strong. Maia continues with "Erdrich also does an excellent job at capturing the feel of the upper great lakes. She has a powerful, and accurate, sense of place; it was so lovely to read and think 'yes, that's just the way it feels'." Although Jonathan Hunt find sometimes "too many details," he dismissed this as a "minor quibble" in a fine book. Kritine Augustine praised the detail with this comment, " the richness of the history made explicit through the tasks which are undertaken, the clothing which catches on the rough ground, the glint of a gun barrel ground to sharp for use as a hide scraper, the curve of baby Neewo's cradleboard, the description of each Wisconsin season."
If we "look at the text and dialogue," we find nothing that seems stilted or false. Although one commentator found the Ojibway words were sometimes road blocks, another pointed out praised the "great glossary," and yet another found this added to the authenticity of the account. Uma Krishnaswami responds that "I actually enjoyed the sprinkling of Ojibwa words - it added flavor, and sometimes I don't think "slowing things down" is negative."
Finally, in our bevy of "evaluation criteria," we can look at the reader response. Several of you have given us points-of-view of children who have read The Birchbark House. Kate McClelland shared her experience that
"Birchbark House has been equally embraced by all young readers from grades 3 to 8." If we "look at the effects on a child's self-image," we heard Elizabeth say "I think others should read it, cause like I said before, its a unique book and if others miss out on that, I don't know what will happen. Because my culture doesn't get to be heard very often, and it is very very wonderful that this book is a good teacher for children like me."
(I met Liz at the USBBY conference, and, yes, she does speak in exactly this type of precise and articulate terms which some would question from an 8 year old).
So, it appears that with only "minor quibbles," we all agree that this book is outstanding in its character development, style, authenticity, and all other criteria we have chosen to apply. No book (and no person) is perfect. Nor does any one book contain all perspectives or possible happenings. But certainly this one is exemplary in our collective opinion. This discussion and this book provide a template for the evaluation of other historical
(and perhaps contemporary) fiction for youth. It is not "issue driven," but the issues are there, woven skillfully into a rich tapestry of lyric prose.
I am going to do a separate post on "WHERE WE DISAGREE" because this is already far too long for the "tolerance" of e-mail readers. I also invite anyone with further insights into either The Birchbark House or the application of evaluation criteria to it to add your voice to the discussion as we move forward.
Eliza
_________________________________________________________ Eliza T. Dresang, Associate Professor School of Information Studies/ Florida State University
Tallahassee, Florida 32306!00 e-mail: edresang at mailer.fsu.edu Phone: 850 644 5877 (w) FAX: 850 644 9763 (w)
Received on Sat 16 Oct 1999 07:40:01 AM CDT
