Insider vs. Outsider

In the last few weeks I have read many articles about the voice an author has when writing a text. There is a huge controversy surrounding the question "Who should be able to write about who?" After reading two novels "Heart of a Chief" and "Habibi" I have realized that multicultural literature can be so important in the education a child receives. As a teacher, I know it is important to include quality diverse literature within my classroom; however, it is a difficult task assessing what constitutes as good quality. I never thought, before reading a few articles, about who should be able to write on certain topics or on certain groups of people (cultures/races). I have learned that there is lots to be said about the debate over insider versus outsider and I am not 100% sure where I stand on this; however, I know that through the course of the semester I am going to work on furthering my understanding of this topic.

To start, when reading the novel "Heart of a Chief" by Joseph Bruchac I never once questioned the author's background nor did I desired to know his perspective. The story, I felt, was a good representation of the Native Americans (or American Indians... a whole other controversial question). During a group discussion on the quality of this text, I came to the conclusion that I would include it in my classroom because I feel it is of excellent quality. Being unaware of what life was/is like for American Indians, as a reader I found this book very informative. After reading a few articles on what constitutes as quality literature I have decided that because of the honest depictions of life on a reservation and the portrayal of issues surrounding the Native Americans, this book will stay in my collection.

Another book that I recently read was "Habibi" by Naomi Shihab Nye. This book was about an Arab-American family adjusting to a new culture and a new way of life after picking up and moving from St. Louis to Israel. As the reader, being completely uninformed about the Arab-American culture, I found this book to be completely engrossing. While reading the text though, I often found myself questioning how authentic this experience the main characters where having was. I wondered if it was practical enough for the reader to believe and learn from. After having a group discussion and watching a lecture about the depiction of Jewish people, I realized that when including a text in your collection such as this one, you have to be willing to follow it up with another text or a class discussion. Some argue that within "Habibi" the portrayal of Jewish people is inaccurate which is why I think you would have to have a companion text to teach along with this one in order to combat certain stereotypes or generalizations.

Overall, I am still unsure of where I stand as a reader and as an educator on the whole insider versus outsider debate. Is it possible for whites to write about blacks or vice verse? According to Rudine Sims Bishop "you have to know a culture intimately if you're going to reflect it accurately in your fiction."("A Reply to Shannon the Canon" pg.6). Agreeing with Bishop, as of now I believe that in order to produce quality diverse literature you have to have first hand experience with that culture or group of people. I am looking forward to further exploring the notion of insider versus outsider throughout the semester.