A Post-Colonial Critique of the (Mis)Representation of Korean-Americans in Children's Picture Books Item Type text; Electronic Dissertation Authors Sung, Yoo Kyung Publisher The University of Arizona. Rights Copyright © is held by the author. Digital access to this material is made possible by the University Libraries, University of Arizona. Further transmission, reproduction or presentation (such as public display or performance) of protected items is prohibited except with permission of the author. Download date 27/09/2021 01:01:03 Link to Item http://hdl.handle.net/10150/194907 A POST-COLONIAL CRITIQUE OF THE (MIS)REPRESENTATION OF KOREAN-AMERICANS IN CHILDREN’S PICTURE BOOKS by Yoo Kyung Sung _____________________ Copyright © Yoo Kyung Sung 2009 A Dissertation Submitted to the Faculty of the DEPARTMENT OF LANGUAGE READING AND CULTURE In Partial Fulfillment of Requirements For the Degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY In the Graduate College THE UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA 2009 2 THE UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA GRADUATE COLLEGE As members of the Dissertation Committee, we certify that we have read the dissertation prepared by Yoo Kyung Sung entitled A Post-Colonial Critique of the Mis(Representation) of Korean-Americans in Children’s Picture Books and recommend that it be accepted as fulfilling the dissertation requirement for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy ____________________________________________________________Date: 06/15/09 Kathy G. Short ____________________________________________________________Date: 06/15/09 Linda R. Waugh ____________________________________________________________Date: 06/15/09 David B. Yaden, Jr. Final approval and acceptance of this dissertation is contingent upon the candidate's submission of the final copies of the dissertation to the Graduate College. I hereby certify that I have read this dissertation prepared under my direction and recommend that it be accepted as fulfilling the dissertation requirement. ____________________________________________________________Date: 06/15/09 Dissertation Director: Kathy G. Short 3 STATEMENT BY AUTHOR This dissertation has been submitted in partial fulfillment of requirements for an advanced degree at the University of Arizona and is deposited in the University Library to be made available to borrowers under rules of the Library. Brief quotations from this dissertation are allowable without special permission, provided that accurate acknowledgment of source is made. Requests for permission for extended quotation from or reproduction of this manuscript in whole or in part may be granted by the copyright holder. SIGNED: Yoo Kyung Sung 4 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Completing a dissertation was a journey of rediscovery for me. During my journey there were many bumps, hills, and straight roads. I came to learn to be optimistic and most certainly I learned to believe that I had it within me to complete my dissertation. This research is a significant part of my life for personal reasons that reflecting my understanding of the cultures in which I was brought up and grew a part of, including cross-cultural experiences in the United States. I never knew this moment would come. I would not be able to complete this journey without the support, encouragement, and most of all, the faith that my family, professors, and friends provided me. I am incredibly lucky to be a student and colleague of theirs: Drs. Kathy G. Short, David B. Yaden Jr. and Linda R. Waugh. Their knowledge, experiences, guidance, and confidence for me made it possible to develop my potential as a scholar, teacher, and academic writer. Others in the university community have helped me to be persistent: their magic words, “You will be JUST fine!” from Maria Fierro, Yvonne González-Lewis, and Virginia Gonzalez always helped me to remain inspired. I thank Candace K. Galla and Junko Sakoi for their patience, kindness, and unconditional friendship. I have been extremely lucky to have insightful and enthusiastic co-thinkers. I thank Mary Fahrenbruck, Jenise Porter, Melissa Wilson, Bryan Meadows, Helena Guerrero, Adam Schwartz, Kevin Carroll, Angie Hoffman, Brendan O’Connor, and Drs. Bob Wortman, Richard Ruiz, Yetta Goodman, and certainly Carole Edelsky. Of course, the warm prayers of Soo Hyun Park, So Jeong Jeon, and Candace Park were invaluable to the success of this study. Lastly, I can never thank my beloved husband enough, Yong Soo Park. Yong Soo’s love, support, encouragement, and understandings made this journey possible. 5 TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF FIGURES.......................................................................................................... 9 ABSTRACT..................................................................................................................... 11 CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION TO THE RESEARCH .......................................... 13 Background of the Study............................................................................................ 13 Statement of Purpose.................................................................................................. 16 Rationale of the Study ................................................................................................ 17 Overview of Dissertation.......................................................................................... 21 CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW...................................................................... 22 Multicultural Children’s Literature ......................................................................... 24 Multiculturalism and Multicultural Children’s Literature.................................... 25 Challenges to Multicultural Children’s Literature ................................................. 28 Theoretical Frameworks ............................................................................................ 30 Postcolonialism and Racism.................................................................................... 30 Exoticism and Human Zoo...................................................................................... 31 Racism and Elite Discourse..................................................................................... 33 Culture...................................................................................................................... 36 Development of a Theoretical Framework for Analysis ......................................... 39 Mainstream as Point of Comparison and as Norm ................................................ 39 The Implied Reader in the Position of Power......................................................... 39 Appreciated Difference and Dismissed Commonalities ......................................... 41 Misrepresentation of a Cultural Group................................................................... 42 Lack of diversity within a group.......................................................................... 42 Focus on history and tradition and not on contemporary life ........................... 43 Issues of accuracy and cultural authenticity ...................................................... 44 Overemphasized partial truth as stereotypes....................................................... 48 Research on Otherness and Cultural Authenticity in Children’s Literature ....... 52 Postcolonial Studies in Children’s Literature......................................................... 55 Immigration and Diasporic Literature.................................................................... 58 Relevance to My Research ......................................................................................... 60 CHAPTER 3: METHODOLOGY................................................................................. 62 Overview of the Methodological Framework........................................................... 62 Qualitative Critical Content Analysis...................................................................... 62 Research Assumptions............................................................................................. 66 Personal Ideology and Bias ..................................................................................... 67 My background .................................................................................................... 67 My diasporic experience ...................................................................................... 68 My Experiences with Korean-American Picture Books......................................... 69 Design of the Study: Data Collection ........................................................................ 70 Criteria for Book Selection...................................................................................... 70 Process of Data Analysis.......................................................................................... 77 6 Interpretation of the Text......................................................................................... 90 Critical Content Analysis: Discourse and Visual Image........................................ 90 Discourse Studies ................................................................................................. 92 Critical Visual Analysis of Images in Picture Books.............................................. 94 Prolonged Engagement Awareness of Subjectivity and Bias............................... 100 My imagined community of Korea .................................................................... 101 Summary...................................................................................................................