Prior to the assigned readings, I had a extremely small knowledge base of the insider/outsider debate. Each article offered an interesting point of view, however I picked out a few quotes that I really felt impacted my opinion of this debate the most:
My first quote comes from Patrick Shannon's article, I Am The Cannon: Finding Ourselves in Multiculturalism.... "Culture, then, is not limited to race because it includes region, gender, language, ethnicity, economic class, and other social markers which can demarcate a social group from others" (2).
-I personally can say that I have categorized multicultural literature as an outlet for different racial groups; with such a naive mindset I can understand why this issue has become so huge, I can only imagine how many other people are mistaking this outlet for something less than it is. Race is different from multiculturalism, and thinking that the two are one in the same means something desperately needs to change people's mindsets, and fast!
In Violet Harris' article, No Invitations Required to Share Multicultural Literature, there were two quotes that immediately drew my attention..." Shannon can decide to join the struggle at his leisure; I cannot. I am a central part of multicultural struggles whether I decide to join or not" (10).
-This statement is so incredibly powerful! I suppose that being a white female, I have often been oblivious to the fact most literature I have ever read I can identify with the character. Rarely do I recall reading books with multicultural issues in my childhood, although I can luckily say that my family did open my eyes to these issues without the use of text. I believe Harris is correct in saying that Shannon can choose whether or not he joins the struggle; but I do support Shannon in the fact that he is joining the struggle willing.
Second, Harris notes that "Donnarae McCann is European-American. She possess the critical consciousness that enabled her to create an excellent examination of the depiction of Native Americans" (11).
-Harris spends most of her article arguing that she is open to the idea of another culture writing about a specific culture, however, I find it odd that she can only find and support one example of this. If she did widely support this belief, wouldn't she have listed more sources to back her claim?
Lastly, I was struck my Mingshui Cai's article, Multiple Definitions of Multicultural Literature: Is the Debate Really Just "Ivory Tower" Bickering? The author notes that, "the view that all literature is multicultural has the merit of expanding our understanding of literature from a multicultural perspective" (316).
-I really just felt this was such a great way to stop categorizing different parts of this debate; if we can search for multicultural aspects in all literature, we will all be more knowledgeable about the world around us.
My first quote comes from Patrick Shannon's article, I Am The Cannon: Finding Ourselves in Multiculturalism.... "Culture, then, is not limited to race because it includes region, gender, language, ethnicity, economic class, and other social markers which can demarcate a social group from others" (2).
-I personally can say that I have categorized multicultural literature as an outlet for different racial groups; with such a naive mindset I can understand why this issue has become so huge, I can only imagine how many other people are mistaking this outlet for something less than it is. Race is different from multiculturalism, and thinking that the two are one in the same means something desperately needs to change people's mindsets, and fast!
In Violet Harris' article, No Invitations Required to Share Multicultural Literature, there were two quotes that immediately drew my attention..." Shannon can decide to join the struggle at his leisure; I cannot. I am a central part of multicultural struggles whether I decide to join or not" (10).
-This statement is so incredibly powerful! I suppose that being a white female, I have often been oblivious to the fact most literature I have ever read I can identify with the character. Rarely do I recall reading books with multicultural issues in my childhood, although I can luckily say that my family did open my eyes to these issues without the use of text. I believe Harris is correct in saying that Shannon can choose whether or not he joins the struggle; but I do support Shannon in the fact that he is joining the struggle willing.
Second, Harris notes that "Donnarae McCann is European-American. She possess the critical consciousness that enabled her to create an excellent examination of the depiction of Native Americans" (11).
-Harris spends most of her article arguing that she is open to the idea of another culture writing about a specific culture, however, I find it odd that she can only find and support one example of this. If she did widely support this belief, wouldn't she have listed more sources to back her claim?
Lastly, I was struck my Mingshui Cai's article, Multiple Definitions of Multicultural Literature: Is the Debate Really Just "Ivory Tower" Bickering? The author notes that, "the view that all literature is multicultural has the merit of expanding our understanding of literature from a multicultural perspective" (316).
-I really just felt this was such a great way to stop categorizing different parts of this debate; if we can search for multicultural aspects in all literature, we will all be more knowledgeable about the world around us.
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