Transculturation as a Resistance Strategy in Bilingual Children's Literature

Abstract

The 1990s have seen a sudden surge in the number of bilingual books published for children and adolescents (Tristan; Marina Tristan is an associate director of Arte P?blico Press and found? er of Pi?ata Books for children). While this trend was characterized in its beginnings by transla? tions of stories originally written in English, more recent titles frequently deal with young peo? ple's questions about living in two cultures simultaneously and the processes of developing a personal identity in that situation (Lodge 69). Some, such as Gloria Anzald?a's Amigos del otro lado/ Friends from the other side, deal with life on the border and immigration issues. In this paper I propose to explore the political and social issues surrounding a subset of this current publishing phenomenon. Some of the most beautiful and moving examples of this trend are bilingual (English/Spanish) children's picture books that retell indigenous folktales. Most of these are collected and composed in book form by writers and illustrators with anthropological, politi? cal, or literary interests in a particular region of Latin America. I propose to examine them as examples of resistance literature. Specifically, after setting up a critical foundation of children's resistance literature, this paper offers a close reading of three transcultural children's books. This study explores the political power of children's stories in general. Both Dorfman and Kohl, using different approaches, make the case that children's literature can be a powerful form of propaganda. They show how it has the power to shape modes of perception and understanding each generation through the most intimate channels: the voices of parents and trusted adults. Furthermore, children's stories are frequently the channel through which an imperial power exerts its cultural influence. In order to create a workable definition of transculturation as resistance literature, this paper forges a synthesis of Angel Rama's vision o? narrativa transculturada and Barbara Harlow's definition of resistance literature. Rama focuses on the importance of accultura? tion received in early childhood and the importance of myth, while Harlow speaks specifically about strategies of resistance literatures. I will be exploring story-telling by the nondominant voice as a form of resistance. Most books under consideration here were produced by an individual writer with an individu? al illustrator. This necessarily raises the issue of mediating voices. I intend to approach this issue from the perspective of N?stor Garc?a Canclini, the Argentine-Mexican social anthropologist, who describes the dynamics involved in indigenous artifacts becoming merchandise. Mediating voices in bilingual children's books do convert aspects of native culture into merchandise. However in doing so, they not only preserve an aspect of an endangered culture, but they give that culture