ERIC Number: EJ847136
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2009
Pages: 9
Abstractor: ERIC
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-1068-3844
EISSN: N/A
Seeking Accurate Cultural Representation: Mahjong, World War II, and Ethnic Chinese in Multicultural Youth Literature
Chen, Minjie
Multicultural Education, v16 n3 p2-10 Spr 2009
The sheer amount of American children's and young adult literature, boasting an outpouring of 5,000 titles every year, often amazes a person who is new to this field. Not only is a large proportion of these books of high printing and binding quality, but, at a quick glance, among them is also a pleasant diversity of genre, format, targeted age level, topic, and style. In this article, the author discusses juvenile books about China and ethnic Chinese and describes an event in modern history--the Sino-Japanese War (1937-45)--and its representation in American youth literature. The author focuses on American juvenile fiction with the Sino-Japanese War as its main setting or subject. With its focus on works of fiction, this article is part of a larger project to study American youth literature about the portion of World War II fought in China. By combing through multiple bibliographies and searching in library catalogs, the author located 28 fiction titles specifically written for a young audience and published in the U.S. (including titles published previously or simultaneously in other countries) from 1937 through 2007 about World War II in China. The author has also included in her study three adult titles which are suggested by the bibliographies she consulted as suitable reading for older young adults. The author discusses the general patterns of these books within the context of social, political, and cultural dynamics in America. (Contains 1 table and 6 notes.)
Descriptors: Adolescent Literature, Modern History, War, Young Adults, Foreign Countries, Fiction, Multicultural Education, Asian History, United States History, World History, Childrens Literature, Cultural Context, Social Environment, Content Analysis
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Evaluative
Education Level: Elementary Secondary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: China; United States
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A