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Forced Journeys in Children's Literature, Part II

Sept. 10, 2018
By Seemi Aziz, University of Arizona

Middle Eastern regions and Muslims have been unfailingly in the media and news. Children’s literature and Young Adult literature also tap into this trend and brings forward concerns faced by these regions, presently. Turmoil within the regions has become a predominant global concern since the refugee crises has brought the impact to Western shores, impacting their economy, balance of power, and in some cases, law and order. Most earlier books were written by people outside of the regions, thus, not true insiders to the cultures, raising concerns of authenticity. Commonly held trends as well as issues in literature about Muslims is that of migration, refugees, Muslim people at the center of strife and Muslim people as violent, blood thirsty terrorists. There is an issue when these assumptions, generalization, and stereotypes are taken as truths.

 

The following books are a removal from the run-of-the-mill representations, as they are written by people belonging to the cultures that they represent, furthermore, these are graphic novels that are also biographies and autobiographies of the writers. These authors are also the illustrators of the books. Three of the four books are translations from French to English thus widening the audience.

Title: The Arab of the Future: A Childhood in the Middle East Author & Illustrator: Riad Sattouf Publisher: Metropolitan Books ISBN: 9781627793445 Date Published: October 20, 2015

Title: Baddawi Author & Illustrator: Leila Abdelrazaq Publisher: Just World Books ISBN: 9781935982401 Date Published: April 1, 2015

Title: A Game for Swallows: To Die, to Leave, to Return Author & Illustrator: Zeina Abirached Publisher: Graphic Universe ISBN: 9781575059419 Date Published: August 1, 2013

Title: Persepolis: The Story of a Childhood Author & Illustrator: Marjane Satrapi Publisher: Pantheon Books ISBN: 9780375714573 Date Published: June 1, 2004

You can find more information about these books in part I of this series.

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