Representing Africa in Children's Literature: Old and New Ways of Seeing

by Yenika-Agbaw; Vivian

• ISBN13: 9780415974684
• ISBN10: 0415974682
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2007-10-29
• Publisher: Routledge

Summary

Representing Africa in Children?s Literature explores how African and Western authors portray youth in contemporary African societies, critically examining the dominant images of Africa and Africans in books published between 1960 and 2005. The book focuses on contemporary children?s and young adult literature set in Africa, examining issues regarding colonialism, the politics of representation, and the challenges posed to both insiders and outsiders writing about Africa for children.

Author Biography

Vivian Yenika-Agbaw is Associate Professor of English Education at Bloomsburg University, where she teaches children's and young adult literature.

Table of Contents

Series Editor's Foreword	p. xi
Acknowledgments	p. xiii
Introduction: Children's Literature and Africa	p. xv
Image Making and Children's Books	p. 1
Images of West Africa in Children's Books: Replacing Old Stereotypes with New Ones?	p. 3
Illustrations and the Messages They Convey: African Culture in Picture Books	p. 17
The "Typical" West African Village Stories	p. 29
Growing Up African and Female in Children's Books	p. 35
Religion and Childhood in Two African Communities: Ogot's "The Rain Came" and Adichie's: Purple Hibiscus	p. 37
Revising Traditional Cultural Practices in Two Picturebook Versions of African Folktales	p. 49
African Girls' Sexuality in Selected Fiction for Young Adults	p. 55
Individual vs. Communal Healing: Three African Females' Attempts at Constructing Unique Identities	p. 67
Reading African Cultural Survival in Children's Books	p. 79
Reading Images of Resistance in Tom Feelings': The Middle Passage	p. 81
African Sites of Memory in African-American Children's Literature	p. 89
Afterword	p. 101
When Illustrations by Africans Lack Visual Appeal, How Should African Readers React?	p. 103
Authenticity, Hybridity, and Literature about African Children	p. 111
Notes	p. 121
Bibliography	p. 127
Index	p. 137
Table of Contents provided by Ingram. All Rights Reserved.