Centering the Margins: Investigating Relationships, Power, and Culture Through Critical Peritextual Analysis

Abstract

In this article, we offer a framework for scholars and educators to investigate issues of power and the right to storytelling in diverse, international books for children. Specifically, we examine the peritext of picturebooks set in Africa to determine how various cultural relationships are invoked in the text. We suggest that there are three broad categories of relationships the creators of these picturebooks draw on to claim authenticity regarding the cultures about which they are writing: (a) spatial relationships, (b) affiliative relationships, and (c) personal relationships. Ultimately, we argue that this framework has the potential to engage scholars, educators, and students in dialogue about the power dynamics involved in the production and consumption of diverse texts.