"Insider" vs. "Outsider" Status -- A Debate

Currently, on Arthur A. Levine's blog, a number of prominent children's literature authors and literary critics are debating a question that has been at the center of children's and YA literature for decades:  What are the pros and cons of individuals who are not part of a particular culture or group writing a narrative about members of that culture or group?

The impetus for this discussion was YA literature author Ellen Wittlinger's op ed piece in The Horn Book entitled "Too Gay or Not Gay Enough?"  I would urge you to read this article first and then check out the insightful debate at Levine's blog.

Comments

[Thomas Crisp]

Thanks for sharing this link, Gwen. As you note, it's interesting that we're still talking about this after so many years. What the thread to which you link reveals is how many different, equally grounded opinions exist on all sides of the issue (across and within communities).

[Debbie Reese]

Different, and equally grounded, but, the power differentials are significant. That's why, I guess, we're still having this discussion.

[Gwen Tarbox]

You both make excellent points -- thank you for sharing your knowledge and experience with us all.

[Kjodle]

I suppose I fall pretty firmly in the "insider" camp, although I admit there are exceptions (there are always exceptions). Pearl S. Buck is often cited as an example, and I would add Mark Haddon to that (albeit short) list.

If writers really want to write about a culture they're not a part of, they can always write about an imaginary culture: vampires, ghosts, werewolves, magicians, etc. Part of what makes the work of J.K. Rowling, and to a lesser degree, Stephenie Meyer, so successful (and what their clones generally fail to achieve) is that they manage to create believable, yet completely imaginary, cultures.

More of my thoughts on this matter can be found here: http://bookblog.kjodle.net/?page_id=224

[Gwen]

That's an interesting way of thinking about the function of fantasy -- although it could be argued that both Meyer and Rowling situate their fictive realities within a definite cultural context. There's a great book by Andrew Blake called "The Invisible Rise of Harry Potter" that concerns how the HP series reflects British cultural trends in the 1990s (http://www.amazon.com/Irresistible-Harry-Potter-Andrew-Blake/dp/1859846661/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1280110297&sr=1-1)

That said, it would be interesting to consider what qualities make Buck or Haddon's texts seem more acceptable to readers, but not, say the work of Gloria Whelan, whose 2000 text Homeless Bird was awarded the National Book Award, but was roundly criticized when it came out that Whelan had never been to India (where the text was set).

I'm glad that you'll be in my Multicultural Adolescent Lit course in the fall, because we are going to take up this topic, among others. Always great to hear from you!