The "Insider Outsider Debate", is there one answer???

I am writing this particular blog entry in response to a class question posed about the “insider and outsider” debate about who can write multicultural literature. I decided to write this blog before I read the articles pertaining to this debate so I could examine my own thoughts on the topic, so that I could compare and contrast them to others, and so I can see other points of view that my resemble or differ from my own while reading.

I think that this debate is very interesting yet complicated because there are many factors that need to be taken into account when considering both sides of this debate. I think that both insiders and outsiders are able to write multicultural literature, however, the quality of the literature depends on the authenticity of it. For me, authenticity does not simply mean that you come from the background that you are writing about, I think it is more complicated then that. My first thought about who an “insider” is, was the more obvious answer, a person from inside the subgroup they are writing. However, after considering this I think that an insider is better described as, someone who has personal experience or enormous insight into the subgroup they are writing about. I feel as though someone who is not from a subgroup that they are writing about, but has done research and carefully analyzed the things they are writing about can write very authentic literature. I also think that individuals who are part of the subgroup can write literature that is not as authentic.

I do not think that simply being part of the subgroup you are writing about allows you to write literature and automatically have it considered authentic. I believe that authenticity comes from the research that is done and the information that is put into the book, both visually and verbally. For this reason I believe that you can write authentic literature as an insider or an outsider.

This also brought up a question in my mind of how do you really know who and insider and an outsider are? When I look at myself personally as an “insider” to the Polish culture, I do not feel as though I could write an authentic piece of literature depicting the Polish culture. However, I do believe that an “outsider” to this culture after careful research and by interviewing members of this group could write a more authentic story about the Polish culture then myself.

There are many opinions about the answers to this debate and I think that each individual author, each topic, and each individual piece of literature are different and should be treated that way. I do not think there is a cut and dry answer that only insiders can write about their subgroup, but I think it is important to look at the literature, and to look at reviews from both insiders and outsiders on the content of the book, before making a decision on the authenticity of the literature.

I would really like to look more into ways to find out what other "insiders" say about particular pieces of literature. I think it is important to find reviews of books from individuals on the "inside", but I would like to look further into ways that this can be accomplished and different opinions can be combined to come to a gereral conclusion on a book from the "insiders" whether the book was written by an insider or an outsider.

Introduction to my Blog

My name is Ashley and I am a senior at Michigan State University majoring in Child Development with a concentration in Language Arts and I am in the College of Education. I have created this blog for a course I am taking entitled TE 448 which is a course on Diversity in Children's and Adolescent Literature. I am interested in diverse literature becuase I believe that it is very important for children to learn about themselves and about others through reading. I also think that diversity in literature is important becuase there is diversity in the world around us and this diversity in everyone should be represented in the classroom as well. Throughout this course i would like to explore and learn more about the question of authenticity in diverse literature and the question of inside and outside writers. I think that these questions are important in finding appropriate diverse literature choices.