“Writing for kids is simple, just as simple as bringing them up. All you do is take all the sex out, and use little short words and little dumb ideas, and don’t be too scary, and be sure there’s a happy ending. Right? Nothing to it,” is author Ursula LeGuin’s sarcastic response to the question, “How do you write children’s books?” Nineteenth-century Russian author Maxim Gorky claims, “You must write for children in the same way you do for adults, only better.” These authors question the common belief that books for children constitute an inferior genre of literature. Criteria used to evaluate children’s literature is pretty much the same as criteria for any literature. Both literature “for children” and “for adults” benefit from a reader’s critical, questioning attitude, which should not diminish enjoyment of a story but enrich it.
This course provides the opportunity for students to explore the often ignored genre of children’s literature in the Pacific. Students will discover new authors and stories, perhaps reconsider favorites from childhood, and read them in a new way which considers them as any other work of literature: as meaningful expressions of artistry, as emotional and intellectual experiences, and as social, cultural, and/or political messages. Throughout the semester, students will encounter texts that invite multi-layered, diverse readings including post-colonial, historical, aesthetic, and feminist interpretations, amongst others.
This course begins with an brief introduction to the history of children’s literature as a distinct western genre, and discuss well-defined genres, such as picture books and young adult literature, and sub-genres, such as fantasy, non-fiction, historical fiction, etc. We will then turn specifically to the Pacific context and the history of children’s literature in this region. Some basic questions we will discuss include, what is the purpose of children’s literature? Why is it important to study? What makes some books controversial (i.e., why are specific audiences troubled by certain texts)? While important in the study of children’s literature overall, how are these questions relevant in a Pacific context? What about the role of indigenous languages and translation? How do illustrations and visual imagery perpetuate or refute stereotypes?
We will also touch upon children’s literature in ethnic, multicultural, and international contexts, including the emerging field of translations and new compositions of native language texts (such as materials used in Hawaiian language immersion programs). Thus, we will also discuss the role of colonialism and educational curriculums in shaping the politics of children’s literature, and the emerging resistance to such practices in (post)-colonial settings such as Hawai‘i and Aotearoa, which both have vibrant indigenous language programs and publishing of children’s languages, and other locations (Tahiti, Guam) which aspire to such goals.
The texts assigned for this class do not simply reflect back readers’ own familiar faces. In fact, each story suggests that our ordinary worlds are NOT so ordinary and that we are often mislead when we judge by superficial appearances. Some of these texts create a new “secondary world,” but all are works of fiction that, in various ways, invite readers to look closer, to be more curious and questioning. Works like these cannot be dismissed as “kiddie lit” nor will we settle for an oversimplified, sentimental approach to these stories. We will spend the semester investigating and appreciating the imaginative, psychological and often numinous power of these rich, layered texts.
Course requirements: three research-based papers, annotated bibliography, midterm and final exam, group oral presentation, library workshop, regular quizzes, class participation, regular attendance.
This course has the designations of HAP and WI.