Scholarly Critique 2

Published on July 2016 | Categories: Documents | Downloads: 68 | Comments: 0 | Views: 359
of 11
Download PDF   Embed   Report

This is my second scholarly critique for LIBR 271A.

Comments

Content

RUNNING HEAD: Folklore in Children’s Literature: Swapping and Stealing Stories

Folklore in Children’s Literature: Swapping and Stealing Stories
A Scholarly Critique

Kathleen Esling
LIBR 271A-10
June 18, 2015

1

Folklore in Children’s Literature: Swapping and Stealing Stories

2

One of the literary genres most often associated with children is that of fairy tales
and folklore. Images of princesses, witches, ogres, and kings fill children’s heads, and
these figures come from a variety of backgrounds. English-speaking readers can find
stories about characters from all over the world. Thanks to translations and adaptations,
no story is too distant to be told. Unfortunately, retelling other cultures’ stories often
changes the original meanings of the tales: humor gets lost, stereotypes emerge, and other
nuances do not translate. Betsy Hearne explores the problematic nature of translating
folktales in her article “Swapping Tales and Stealing Stories: The Ethics of Folklore in
Children’s Literature” (1998). While the essay is seventeen years old, it explores issues
still prevalent in children’s literature. The We Need Diverse Books movement is a new
campaign that focuses on the need for diverse voices in children’s literature. The
campaign also emphasizes importance of letting each culture tell its own story rather than
letting the dominant culture control the canon. As Hearne notes, there is a constant
struggle between aesthetics (poetic license) and ethics (ownership) in folklore that has
been introduced to the canon of children’s literature. Who gets to tell a story? What, if
anything, can be changed during the revision and adaptation process? At what point does
revision become appropriation? These are all difficult issues that are part of adapting
folklore for children.
To help balance out the ideas of story theft and sharing stories across cultures,
Hearne introduces an idea that she calls “swapping.” In a “swap,” a new culture may take
a story from another culture and inject the new group’s meaning into the story. If they
share the story with the old culture while acknowledging the story’s roots, Hearne argues
that this swap is acceptable. Hearne’s conclusion that swapping is the solution to the theft

Folklore in Children’s Literature: Swapping and Stealing Stories

3

of folklore falls somewhat flat. It sounds much too much like simple appropriation; she
proposes no checks or balances to differentiate swapping from stealing. There is no way
to force readers to learn the context for a folktale. Hearne’s ideas regarding swapping,
however, can be adjusted to reflect a real need in the youth literature genre: diversity.
Hearne’s concluding arguments may not be satisfying, but her ideas can be used to create
a more useful system of story sharing.
Hearne notes that a central issue in the world of folklore is ownership. The issue
is multifaceted, as she explains in her abstract:
Beyond the need to acknowledge the story’s source, especially if it is outside the
adaptor’s own culture, is the larger question of who owns stories, specifically
folktales, but also ‘story’ in a broader sense as folktales serve as a bridge to
legend, personal narrative, oral history, history, and fiction. (Hearne, 1998)
She exposes an important issue, mainly that folktales are not a separate genre from other
aspects of literature; folklore blends genres together. It connects history with fiction as
well as connecting people with their history and other cultures. By blurring these lines,
the sharing of stories connects people to all mankind. This global connection may be a
beautiful idea, but it does not give readers a universal understanding of all cultures. A
reader’s home culture will always influence how he or she reads a given text. Hearne
explains this difficult personal context in order to make a necessary point: every reader
and researcher’s personal context “will inevitably be a silent subtext.” When reading
stories from another culture, this is an important factor to keep in mind. Not every
culture’s storytelling follows the same conventions (Hearne, 1998).

Folklore in Children’s Literature: Swapping and Stealing Stories

4

Hearne introduces common issues in the adaptation of folklore, starting with
attribution and interpretation. Many folktale adaptations fail to properly cite the origins of
their stories. Tales adapted from print material must always be cited, but so too should
stories taken from oral tradition. As Hearne writes, not to do so “violates basic folklore
and storytelling ethics.” Hearne gives examples of good and poor citations of folktales. In
an incomplete attribution, David Wood (the author) simply says that “a white-haired
Ojibwe (Anishinabe) woman” in Northwestern Ontario told him the story. As Hearne
points out, that author gives readers almost no useful information. He does not identify
the woman who told him the story, nor does he explain what the folk figure is, nor does
he explain any context for the telling of the story. How can readers contextualize it if they
do not have this background information? Hearne’s example of a good citation was from
a story by Gayle Ross. Ross includes who told her the story, what the folk figure’s origin
was, and what elements of the story were new inventions in the telling. This
contextualization is rewarding to readers; it tells them where the story came from (and
roots it in a specific storyteller’s rendition) as well as where it is headed with Ross’s own
inventions. Interestingly, Gayle Ross is a Native American author, and David Wood is
not. Hearne found it important to note that the stronger attribution came from a Native
American author (albeit not one who was a member of the story’s original tribe). While
Hearne’s samples may have been biased, it is significant to note that the examples that
she used of poor or problematic attributions came from authors outside of the original
culture. This is not to say that all “outsider” authors fail to attribute properly, but it does
show an alarming breach in storytelling conduct (Hearne, 1998).

Folklore in Children’s Literature: Swapping and Stealing Stories

5

Ownership is a major issue in the folklore community particularly because the
earliest “collectors” of folklore “were usually men from a colonizing power with a
history of oppressing the culture being studied.” Hearne has already made it clear that
each individual’s personal context will be the “silent” bias that frames how each reader
perceives any given text. The fact that men from the dominant culture were the ones
originally collecting folklore begs the question of how well they collected it. For
example, the Brothers Grimm did not do their due diligence to collect “the ‘pure’ voice of
the German people and to preserve in print the oracular poetry of the common people”
(Tatar as cited in Hintz & Tribunella, 2013). Even though they stated that their mission
was to save the peasants’ folklore, the Grimms instead spoke to a small sampling of
middle-and-upper class women. They gathered the rich people’s interpretations of the
stories rather than the original peasant tales. As Hintz and Tribunella note, the Brothers
Grimm then went on to change the stories even more in order to make them childfriendly. Their supposed project and their actual product were wildly different (Hintz &
Tribunella, 2013; Hearne, 1998).
Hearne does address the counterpoint that without collectors, many folktales
would most likely have been lost. “Without the children’s books based on work such as
these mens’ [sic], fewer people, young or old, would be aware of the rich heritage that
African-American and northern Native American cultures bring to U.S. culture.” While
Hearne is not writing specifically about the Brothers Grimm, those collectors have also
performed children’s literature a great service. They may not have preserved authentic
peasant literature, but without their collection and dissemination of folklore (albeit
heavily edited folklore), much of the classic children’s literature today would not exist.

Folklore in Children’s Literature: Swapping and Stealing Stories

6

The idea of folklore revision is not new; as Hintz and Tribunella write, it is a common
way for fairytales to be shared and made relevant for new generations. Even so, how
much change is acceptable? (Hintz & Tribunella, 2013; Hearne, 1998)
The issue of poetic license, or aesthetics, is also a major concern in the folklore
field. Poetic license is a concern directly opposed to ownership; authors fighting for the
rights to artistic freedom are arguing for the ability to tell any story regardless of its
origin. Authors such as Jane Yolen argue that it would be criminal to limit authors to their
own cultures for storytelling material: “We humans are made up of stories. Almost all
those stories have already been cross-fertilized by other cultures, other tongues” (Yolen
as cited in Hearne, 1998). As Hearne notes, authors fight to tell stories for different
reasons: “We all have culture; we all tell stories; we all have to make a living.” That
being said, the issue of poetic license is a delicate one. If authors do not tread carefully,
they may revert to using stereotypes of the cultures they are “plumb[ing]” for their source
material. By appropriating another culture’s story without providing the right context,
authors present a stereotype to their readers, not real people. Hearne explains that while
folklore is meant to be stories that remain throughout generations, cultures themselves do
not remain static: “The Inuit of today are different from the Inuit of eighty years ago.
Interpreting their old lore without their input essentially freezes them in time as well as
potentially misrepresenting them entirely.” Cultural appropriation is a difficult and
complex issue; even though this article is from 1998, readers in 2015 are still struggling
with the stereotypes that run rampant in youth literature (Hearne, 1998).
Hearne ends her paper with an example of a folktale that had been revised to
reflect a new tragedy. One version of the Swain Maiden tale involves the devil being

Folklore in Children’s Literature: Swapping and Stealing Stories

7

stuck in a box and ending up on Ireland’s shore. Once released from its container, Death
wipes out Ireland, and many of the remaining Irish people flee to America (Neely, as
cited in Hearne, 1998). Hearne points out an important shift:
“The folktale suddenly becomes personal narrative which
shortly checks in somewhere between personal myth and
fiction as we reshape it to fit our changing needs and turn it
into family history.” Hearne explains that folktales are
“flexible,” and “when a story fits, we wear it. Is this

City Hall/Swan Maidens shows a sculpture of
the Swan Maidens at the Oslo City Hall in
Norway. (Sculpture by Dagfin Werenskiold,
Photograph © George Rex)

thievery?” The Irish people revised the Swan Maiden story to
reflect why they had to leave their home. The story “fit,” so the Irish storytellers “wore”
their new Swan Maiden. Hearne argues that since folklore connects humans to their
cultural history, folktales are universally owned. They connect people to people, cultures
to cultures. While each culture must take care not to create offensive stereotypes when
borrowing culturally specific stories from others, she argues that there should not be
hesitation to take and share stories (Hearne, 1998).
Hearne takes this idea of sharing stories and tries to find a balance between
“borrowing” and “stealing” them. She argues that by “swapping” rather “stealing,”
readers will bring their own cultural history to each tale and make an effort to learn the
origin’s context as well. The idea behind her “swapping” method is that the new culture
in the exchange will do the research needed to understand the context of the original
story. This context will enrich the story for them. The original culture will then get to
learn about the new culture once they see the revision of the folktale. She notes that this
does not “erase” the “tension between the ethics and aesthetics of folklore in children’s

Folklore in Children’s Literature: Swapping and Stealing Stories

8

literature,” but she is hopeful that by performing a “swap,” many of the awkward
elements of “stolen” stories will be rendered null (Hearne, 1998).
Ultimately, Hearne’s final arguments are not satisfying. She does not provide
examples of a good swap, and the argument feels incomplete. The idea of a swap is a
promising one, however, if the right criteria are in place. We Need Diverse Books
(#WNDB) works to point out the need for more people of more cultures to be heard.
Story after story of white children and white history erases the stories of all other
children, and often, stories written by members of the dominant culture skip over
elements of all other communities. When members of the dominant culture do include
people from other cultures in their work, those characters tend to veer towards
stereotypes, even if the author had meant to truly create a three-dimensional character.
Tokenism is a major issue in this literature, and it is something that #WNDB is working
to end. Instead of authors from the dominant culture taking the fore, it would better for
readers and writers alike if cultures’ stories could be told firsthand. The canon of authors
needs to be expanded. By allowing people to retell stories from their own cultures, we
will allow for more stories to come through. This does not mean that white writers need
to be cut from publishers’ lists, but we do need to allow more input from nonwhite
voices. More works by these authors needs to be purchased, read, and shared. These
diverse works need to be in libraries where young people can find and read them.
Children deserve to see their own stories told well.
The idea of “swapping” is something that can be emphasized in young adult
literature with a stronger focus on using tales from the dominant culture to reflect life in
other groups. Taking a source text and swapping in new contexts by the right voices when

Folklore in Children’s Literature: Swapping and Stealing Stories

9

applicable can help ground readers in a known tale and help them to connect to new
ideas. An example of a powerful story swap is the novel Ash by Malinda Lo. It revisits
the Cinderella tale type but involves a lesbian love story instead of the traditional
heteronormative romance. This story swap allows non-heterosexual readers a break from
the heteronormativity commonly found in children’s literature, bringing richness to the
swap that other adaptations may not. Gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, intersex, and
asexual youth do not often have many books where they can find their own stories
reflected. While this is beginning to change, the amount of heteronormative books on the
shelves far outweigh any LGBTQIA books being published. By using an existing tale
type and including some of these readers, Lo opens up the world of traditional folklore to
more readers.
Another swap in young adult literature is Guadalupe
Garcia McCall’s novel Summer of the Mariposas. In this revision
of The Odyssey, Odilia and her sisters travel to Mexico to return
a dead body to his family. Returning home to Texas becomes a
difficult and trying journey; figures from Mexican folklore take
the place of Homer’s nymphs and Cyclopes and work to hamper
the girls’ travels home. By weaving characters from her folk

Summer of the Mariposas
book cover (Tu Books).

community into Homer’s tale, Garcia McCall creates a rich novel for young readers.
Children familiar with the mythology of The Odyssey will be rewarded with a new
understanding of Mexican folklore. Mexican children will be able to see their own
folklore in a new light; this “swap” is a beautiful exchange of storytelling.

Folklore in Children’s Literature: Swapping and Stealing Stories

10

Thoughtful swapping provides a powerful place for more stories to be reflected.
Utilizing an old “backbone” for a new “skin” can open the canon to new voices. While
original stories are just as magical, taking the existing tale types and inserting new voices
into the cast will help prove a powerful exchange. Perhaps these swaps can be more
meaningful than Hearne’s original proposal. Ultimately, as long as new voices are
allowed into the canon, children will benefit. Teenagers enjoy folklore as much if not
more than young children do. As soon as young adults discover the “real” versions of
fairy tales rather than Disney’s spin, their eyes are opened to the world of folklore-based
literature. Fairytale retellings are already a popular subgenre in young adult fiction. Series
such as the Lunar Chronicles by Marissa Meyer and the Fairytale Rellings series by
Jackson Pearce have shown that teenagers want to see fairytales in a new light. If authors
use stories that hearken back to the bedtime stories of old while inserting new, more
diverse themes, they will enrich the canon of youth literature for generations to come. If
Hearne wants to connect all people with folklore, this would be a strong way to achieve
this global connection.

Folklore in Children’s Literature: Swapping and Stealing Stories

11

References:
Garcia McCall, G. (2012). Summer of the mariposas. New York: Tu Books.
Hintz, C., & Tribunella, E. L. (2013) Reading children’s literature: A critical
introduction. Boston | New York: Bedford | St. Martin’s.
Hearne, B. (1998). Swapping tales and stealing stories: The ethics and aesthetics of
folklore in children’s literature. Library Trends, 47(3).
Lo, M. (2009). Ash. New York: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers.
Meyer, M. (2011-2016). The lunar chronicles [Book Series]. New York: Feiwel and
Friends.
Pearce, J. (2010-2013). Fairytale retellings [Book Series]. New York: Little, Brown
Books for Young Readers.
Rex, G. (2014). City hall/Swan maidens [Photograph]. Retrieved from
https://flic.kr/p/oeiCrb
Summer of the mariposas [web page]. (n. d.) Retrieved from https://www.goodreads.
com/book/show/14342632-summer-of-the-mariposas
Tu Books. (2012). Summer of the mariposas [Book Cover]. Retrieved from https://d.grassets.com/books/1337982323l/14342632.jpg
We Need Diverse Books (2015). We need diverse books [Blog]. Retrieved from
http://weneeddiversebooks.tumblr.com

Sponsor Documents

Or use your account on DocShare.tips

Hide

Forgot your password?

Or register your new account on DocShare.tips

Hide

Lost your password? Please enter your email address. You will receive a link to create a new password.

Back to log-in

Close