Curious about George: Curious George, Cultural Icons, Colonialism, and US Exceptionalism by Rae Lynn Schwartz-DuPre (review)

Abstract

Reviewed by: Curious about George: Curious George, Cultural Icons, Colonialism, and US Exceptionalism by Rae Lynn Schwartz-DuPre Joanne Yi (bio) Rae Lynn Schwartz-DuPre. Curious about George: Curious George, Cultural Icons, Colonialism, and US Exceptionalism. UP of Mississippi, 2021. Mere mention of Curious George to an American audience, including both children and adults, likely evokes the familiar images of a bright yellow cover, a mischievous little brown monkey, and an omnipresent human guardian and friend in a yellow hat. These cheerfully nostalgic associations are a testament to Curious George’s historical and cultural significance in the United States, the result of a near-constant cycle of production and circulation over eighty years, spanning children’s books, television, film, novelty items and apparel, museum exhibits, multimedia platforms, theme parks, and more. Despite the character’s immense popularity over time, there has been surprisingly little academic scholarship examining this cultural icon. For this reason, Rae Lynn Schwartz-DuPre’s Curious about George: Curious George, Cultural Icons, Colonialism, and US Exceptionalism is a welcome critical investigation into a treasured bedrock of American childhood. Framed by postcolonial theory, Curious George is a conduit of American exceptionalism, pushing and pulling audiences toward colonizing logics and global agendas. A contemporary reading of the original 1941 publication by Margret and H. A. Rey provides a basis for this exploration as George is captured in the wild and “popped” into a burlap bag, given tobacco, and literally imprisoned before being rehomed in a zoo. Schwartz-DuPre starkly observes that it is “the story of African capture” (4). Consequently, the author’s key questions about Curious George’s iconicity are not on whether racialized undertones are present, but on how and why such colonizing ideologies have circulated in beloved children’s texts with scarce critical attention. In this way, Schwartz-DuPre’s monograph distances itself from literary analyses and children’s literature scholarship more generally. It is not an inquiry into text features or author intentions, nor is it a content or thematic analysis. Rather, it is an exploration into public consumption, discursive conventions and pathways, and the referential roles of cultural icons in the United States. Schwartz-DuPre argues, “Curious George transforms from a literary character into an artifact of distinct, but interrelated, discourses: film, science education, and Holocaust remembrance” (27). Through these discourses, George directs consumers toward ideological positions that promote U.S. dominance in science, technology, and global leadership, while leaving behind nostalgic footprints in audiences across time. The text is divided into three primary sections that rely on postcolonial readings of Curious George discourses to construct interpretations of U.S. exceptionalism and the intertwining of “both oppression and opportunity” (44). These range from critical analyses of the iconicity created by the figures of “the curious little monkey,” the captured yet placated slave, and the man [End Page 341] in the yellow hat, the good-intentioned colonialist, and extend to the role George has taken on more recently in television and digital domains as a promoter of science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) education. In addition, the presence of George in Holocaust narratives, following the personal accounts of Margret and H. A. Rey and their escape from Nazi-occupied France, is explored. Schwartz-DuPre deftly outlines the palimpsest of George as nostalgic childhood figure, treasured literary character, STEM ambassador, and Holocaust hero—the result is a literary clinch of the colonized captive archetype. As George’s general immunity from reader critique is puzzling, Schwartz-DuPre contends that contemporary connections between George, STEM education, and the Holocaust have shielded him from racialized readings and analysis. Though Curious George as a STEM ambassador may not be the average consumer’s first association, Schwartz-DuPre sheds light on his characterization: he is not so much a storybook character but a cultural icon of curiosity, particularly a strand of curiosity that is positive, benign, and adventurous. Though his adventures may get him into trouble, George always saves the day with no harm done. Large corporations, such as Google, have utilized George to promote a sense of fun adventure, while television programming and books connecting George with journeys into space have proliferated. Simultaneously, storied accounts of Margret and H. A...