Page 228 - DENG501_LITERARY_CRITICISM_AND_THEORIES

Literary Criticism and Theories

Notes Treating children as if they were really just human beings like the rest of us might have some
specific consequences unfortunate for readers of this journal: it might mean the end of something
specifically identified as children's literature. It might do us out of a job. But I don't think it will.
No matter how hard we try, we aren't ever going to escape the imperialist tendencies at the heart
of human discourse. There will always be somebody out there finding a new way to think about
children or write about childhood; and the new ways will always inevitably work to impose
somebody's ideas of childhood on both other adults and on children. Come to think if it, that's
exactly what I'm trying to do here in this essay. The only difference is that I'm trying hard not to
allow myself to forget that.
Indeed, not forgetting is the key to useful criticism. Which is to say: we critics of children's
literature still have a job to do, and the job is to try to stop forgetting or ignoring or denying the
ways in which children's literature is as inherently imperialist as all human discourse tends to be.
If it is, then we need to explore how. What claims do specific texts make on the children who read
them? How do they represent childhood for children, and why might they be representing it in
that way? What interest of adults might the representation be serving? Perhaps above all, how
does it work? How does children's literature make its claims on child readers?
What are the strategies by which texts encourage children to accept adult interpretations of their
behavior? And can we devise ways of helping children to be more aware of those strategies
themselves, to protect themselves from the oppressions of the other? Oh, yes, and one other thing:
can we remember always to ask all these questions about our own writing about childhood and
children's literature? Can I, for instance, allow myself the humbling embarrassment of suddenly
realizing, as I did when I first wrote the last sentence in the preceding paragraph, my own
imperial tendencies?. For imperialist they undoubtedly are: in order to combat colonialism, I am
recommending a benevolently helpful colonizing attitude towards children.
Self-Assessment
1. Choose the correct options:
(i) Orientalist refers to the ............... .
(a) East (b) West
(c) South (d) North
(ii) The magazine article “Who is Afraid of Edward Said” published in ............... .
(a) 1999 (b) 1989
(c) 1995 (d) None of these
(iii) Noam Chomsky was a well-known ............... .
(a) Throrist (b) Philosopher
(c) Linguist (d) None of these
(iv) Edward said died in the early morning of September 25, ............... .
(a) 2004 (b) 2003
(c) 2008 (d) 2005

19.6 Summary
• Orientalism is a term used by art historians, literary and cultural studies scholars for the
imitation or depiction of aspects of Middle Eastern, and East Asian cultures (Eastern cultures)
by American and European writers, designers and artists.
• In particular, Orientalist painting, depicting more specifically "the Middle East", was one of
the many specialisms of 19th century Academic art. Since the publication of Edward Said's
Orientalism, the term has arguably acquired a negative connotation.

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