University of Missouri, St. Louis IRL @ UMSL Dissertations UMSL Graduate Works 7-9-2010 Reading with a Critical Global Perspective: A Study of Children's & Adolescent's Literature on South Asia, 1989-2009. Manika Subi Lakshmanan University of Missouri-St. Louis, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://irl.umsl.edu/dissertation Part of the Education Commons Recommended Citation Lakshmanan, Manika Subi, "Reading with a Critical Global Perspective: A Study of Children's & Adolescent's Literature on South Asia, 1989-2009." (2010). Dissertations. 476. https://irl.umsl.edu/dissertation/476 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the UMSL Graduate Works at IRL @ UMSL. It has been accepted for inclusion in Dissertations by an authorized administrator of IRL @ UMSL. For more information, please contact [email protected]. READING WITH A CRITICAL GLOBAL PERSPECTIVE: A STUDY OF CHILDREN‘S AND ADOLESCENT‘S LITERATURE ON SOUTH ASIA, 1989-2009. by MANIKA SUBI LAKSHMANAN B.A., University of Perugia, Italy, 1980 M.A.T., Webster University, St. Louis, 2005 A DISSERTATION THESIS Submitted to the Graduate School of the UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI-ST.LOUIS In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY in EDUCATION July, 2010 Advisory Committee E. Wendy Saul, Ph.D. Chairperson Charles Fazzaro, Ed.D. Nancy Robb Singer, Ph.D. Eric Turley, Ph.D. Copyright 2010 by Manika Subi Lakshmanan All Rights Reserved Lakshmanan, Subi, 2010, UMSL, p. iii ABSTRACT This study examines how children‘s and adolescent‘s literature promotes global awareness, cross-cultural understanding and cosmopolitanism. It proposes an alternative critical global perspective in the teaching of complex narratives dealing with socio- economic and political transformations in the developing world, with specific reference to South Asian societies. Reframing how transcultural literature is read, a critical global perspective combines global perspectives distilled from theories of development, human rights and international relations, Michel Foucault‘s notion of discourse and critical analyses, and textual and visual analyses (Stephens, 1992; Kress and van Leeuwen, 1996). This multidimensional approach contributed 20 questions that explored the gap between cultural traditions and modernity, child and family rights, religious worldviews and secularism, humanitarianism and war. These questions were applied to 18 award- winning North American books, published from 1989 to 2009, to facilitate analysis of how texts, images, teaching guides and scholarly commentaries influence global education. Comparative analyses of the 18 texts reveal that while authors differ in their interpretations of societal transformation, education and educators are unanimously regarded as enablers of development, human rights and global peace. Nevertheless, first- person narrative devices, which are used to draw readers‘ engagement into the global context, impede the potential of transcultural literature to equitably mediate cultural and political differences. Paradoxically, while some authors offer more nuanced narratives, the publisher‘s teaching guide often perpetuates notions of an idealized American way of life. In the case of picture books, these guides neglect to integrate how visuals provide Lakshmanan, Subi, 2010, UMSL, p. iv more nuanced religious, cultural, and socio-economic realities. The study concludes that these limitations are inadvertently fostered by the emphasis on text-self connections and reader relevance in the writing and teaching of literature (Keene and Zimmerman, 1997). These findings validate the need for a critical global perspective that strengthens text- world connections, which engender the desired outcome of a cosmopolitan global education. Lakshmanan, Subi, 2010, UMSL, p. v ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Writing this study would not have been possible without the support and assistance of so many people, books, and experiences. But, had it not been for Dr. Wendy Saul, I would never have had the opportunity to embark on this self-defining experience. I remain deeply grateful to her for recognizing in me a potential I was unaware of. Thanks to her guidance and encouragement I have been able to bring this task to fruition. A special thank you for speaking to me in a language of metaphors and visuals that always went to the heart of the issue. This study could not have been written without the faculty at the University of Missouri, St. Louis‘ College of Education and Department of English, especially Martile Elias, Charles Fazzaro, Virginia Navarro, Joe Polman, Rebecca Rogers, Nancy Singer, and Eric Turley. Their expertise has helped direct this study. Special thanks to my study committee - Charles Fazzaro, Nancy Singer and Eric Turley – whose insights and patient support have guided me throughout. I am particularly indebted to Dr. Charles Fazzaro and his graduate students. Without those Saturday morning seminars, I would not have been able to grapple with Michel Foucault and raise some of the questions that concern this study. I wish to thank Dr. Rebecca Rogers, whose seminar in Critical Discourse Analysis directed the layers of my analysis. Her attention to method, analysis and context grounded this research. I wish to thank the editorial review boards of The Dragon Lode and The Journal of Children‟s Literature, and Dr. Rebecca Rogers, editor of An Introduction to Critical Lakshmanan, Subi, 2010, UMSL, p. vi Discourse Analysis in Education (in press). The experience of contributing to these publications has been invaluable in the shaping of this study. From them I have learned that writing is always accompanied by self-reflection, clarification, editing, and much patience. I thank Dr. Joel Glassman who gave me the opportunity to work at the Center for International Studies‘ Resource Library. It is through the process of organizing and adding to the library‘s collection that I gained a wider understanding of global education. I also thank the late E. Desmond Lee, whose dedication to scholarship has touched many lives. I could not have sustained the long journey of writing a study without his financial support. I owe a very special thanks to friends and peers at the University of Missouri, St. Louis - Kelly Grigsby, Rob Good, Glenda McCarty, and Inda Schaenen. It is thanks to their friendship and encouragement that I will look back at this experience with affection. Sudarshan Kant‘s personal library me made me aware of important scholars I had not considered. I remain indebted to Diane Goodwin at the Graduate Office, whose efficiency made the administrative process of completing this dissertation so effortless. This experience would not have been so peaceful and fulfilling without my husband and son. To my husband Mohan I am exceptionally thankful for his unquestioning, silent support. As a role model of discipline, depth, and tenacity, I have to thank my son, Ikshu. For unbiased intellectual honesty, Mohan and Ikshu remain my mentors. Lakshmanan, Subi, 2010, UMSL, p. vii TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT ...................................................................................................................... III ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ................................................................................................. V TABLE OF CONTENTS ................................................................................................. VII FIGURES ....................................................................................................................... XIII CHAPTER 1: READING THE WORLD IN THE CLASSROOM ................................... 1 Problematizing the Uses of Literature .................................................................... 4 A Critical Global Perspective: Connecting the Text to the World ......................... 7 Why Award-winning and Bestselling Transcultural Literature? .......................... 10 Post 1989 South Asia ............................................................................................ 15 Overcoming Limitations and Lacunae .................................................................. 16 CHAPTER 2: LOCATING TRANSCULTURAL LITERATURE IN MULTICULTURAL AND GLOBAL EDUCATION ..................................................... 26 Defining Transcultural and Multicultural Literature ............................................ 28 Multiculturalism .................................................................................................... 30 Lakshmanan, Subi, 2010, UMSL, p. viii Transcultural Literature ........................................................................................ 43 Global Education .................................................................................................. 52 Towards a Cosmopolitan Global Citizen .............................................................. 59 Conclusion ............................................................................................................ 66 CHAPTER 3: A LAYERED MULTIDIMENSIONAL METHOD ................................. 69 A Foucaldian Critical Analysis ............................................................................. 71 Text, Teaching Guides, and Images as Discourse ................................................ 74 Ideological Discourses in Texts and Visuals ........................................................ 81 Conclusion ...........................................................................................................