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"Generic Muslim Culture"
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From: Elsa Marston <elsa.marston_at_gmail.com>
Date: Tue, 12 Aug 2014 17:56:46 -0400
I certainly agree with the view that "an unspecified Middle Eastern country" is an unsatisfactory setting for a book--in fact, I think it does more harm than good.
When discussing illustrations for my forthcoming picture book set in a Lebanese village, THE OLIVE TREE, the publisher suggested clothes, architecture, vegetation, etc. that could conceivably suggest all sorts of different places. After all, the message of reconciliation has a
'universal" quality, so why not make the visual interpretation sort of
"universal"? I can see the appeal of that line of reasoning, to some extent. But it just destroys the *visibility *that we're trying for in presenting people of diverse places and cultures. People and places are
NOT all the same. They're different, and that's what makes the world interesting. Vive la difference! (P.S. the illustrations for my book turned out fine!)
I had exactly the same reaction to *One Green Apple *that Cathy Camper described. I wanted to really know that girl, not just "something about her.". If we give kids "generic Muslim culture," we're just perpetuating stereotypes and denying the reality of the people.
There have been some very interesting comments on this subject--and a helpful statement from Charles. (And I agree--*The Day of Ahmed's Secret *is a wonderful book; but there are some glaring inaccuracies that, to my mind, suggest that the creators didn't work quite hard enough to make this as truly vivid and honest a depiction of present-day Cairo as it could have been. I'm sorry to say that, but I think it's true.)
Just as some others on the list have discussed the possibility of making the "unspecified" setting work, I'll mention one of my all-time favorite books: *Captives in a Foreign Land *by Susan Rardin (Houghton Mifflin, way back in 1984). It's about some American kids, at a conference in Europe with their parents, who are kidnapped by an unnamed group and held hostage in a probably North African location. What makes it work in spite of the vagueness is the development of the characters and the interaction of the Americans with their captors--which I'll never forget.
Elsa www.elsamarston.com
.
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Received on Tue 12 Aug 2014 04:57:15 PM CDT
Date: Tue, 12 Aug 2014 17:56:46 -0400
I certainly agree with the view that "an unspecified Middle Eastern country" is an unsatisfactory setting for a book--in fact, I think it does more harm than good.
When discussing illustrations for my forthcoming picture book set in a Lebanese village, THE OLIVE TREE, the publisher suggested clothes, architecture, vegetation, etc. that could conceivably suggest all sorts of different places. After all, the message of reconciliation has a
'universal" quality, so why not make the visual interpretation sort of
"universal"? I can see the appeal of that line of reasoning, to some extent. But it just destroys the *visibility *that we're trying for in presenting people of diverse places and cultures. People and places are
NOT all the same. They're different, and that's what makes the world interesting. Vive la difference! (P.S. the illustrations for my book turned out fine!)
I had exactly the same reaction to *One Green Apple *that Cathy Camper described. I wanted to really know that girl, not just "something about her.". If we give kids "generic Muslim culture," we're just perpetuating stereotypes and denying the reality of the people.
There have been some very interesting comments on this subject--and a helpful statement from Charles. (And I agree--*The Day of Ahmed's Secret *is a wonderful book; but there are some glaring inaccuracies that, to my mind, suggest that the creators didn't work quite hard enough to make this as truly vivid and honest a depiction of present-day Cairo as it could have been. I'm sorry to say that, but I think it's true.)
Just as some others on the list have discussed the possibility of making the "unspecified" setting work, I'll mention one of my all-time favorite books: *Captives in a Foreign Land *by Susan Rardin (Houghton Mifflin, way back in 1984). It's about some American kids, at a conference in Europe with their parents, who are kidnapped by an unnamed group and held hostage in a probably North African location. What makes it work in spite of the vagueness is the development of the characters and the interaction of the Americans with their captors--which I'll never forget.
Elsa www.elsamarston.com
.
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Received on Tue 12 Aug 2014 04:57:15 PM CDT
