ABSTRACT:In this article, we read Octavia E. Butler's "Bloodchild" as a "payin... more ABSTRACT:In this article, we read Octavia E. Butler's "Bloodchild" as a "paying the rent" story in which reproduction functions as the source of payment made by the Terrans to the Tlic. We use Jenkins's distinctions between "hierarchical body knowledge" and "intelligent body knowledge," which derive from Butler's conception of "body knowledge," to argue that the Tlic's reproduction anxiety results from a legacy of "hierarchical body knowledge" that persists in their approaches to and valuation of their Terran trade partners. The problem with hierarchical body knowledge, as Butler suggests in "Bloodchild," is that it fosters social stratification at the expense of survival and could lead both groups to one-up themselves to death. To avoid such a fate, the story suggests that both groups need to develop a symbiotic love for each other, a love rooted in one of the foundational tenets of intelligent body knowledge—that a body's survival value is more important than its social value.
In response to deficit misconceptions of Black male reading practices and literacies, this paper ... more In response to deficit misconceptions of Black male reading practices and literacies, this paper focuses on the ways in which two Black young men, both in their early 20s, have constructed relevance as readers over the last ten years. The data for this study stems from a longitudinal qualitative study featuring young men who attended the same single-sex school, consisting of grades 4-8, in New York City between 2007 and 2008. Findings of this project point to the need to broaden understandings related to reading and meaning-making in light of readers' complex identities and their own understandings of what it means to engage with texts.
The authors use critical multicultural analysis informed by queer theory to examine the elements ... more The authors use critical multicultural analysis informed by queer theory to examine the elements of Jessica Love’s Julián is a Mermaid (2019) and Julián at the Wedding (2021) that give rise to a queertopia—a world where one’s gender expression(s) and sexual identification(s) are not differences to be tolerated but sources of joy, community, and connection. As such, these two picturebooks disrupt cisheteronormative tropes frequently identified in children’s literature intended to represent LGBTQ+ youth and (re)imagine future, and present, possibilities for gender creative young people (of color).
We, a literacy professor and two K-12 teachers, share our tip for creating a
meaningful, arts-inf... more We, a literacy professor and two K-12 teachers, share our tip for creating a meaningful, arts-infused writing baseline activity that affirms students’ lives and experiences.
Antiracism becomes the focal point of literacy intervention as students engage with music-based t... more Antiracism becomes the focal point of literacy intervention as students engage with music-based texts and visual projects.
Over the last two decades, white supremacist movements have been on the rise in the United States... more Over the last two decades, white supremacist movements have been on the rise in the United States-beginning shortly after the election of President Barack Obama and erupting violently, after the subsequent election of Donald Trump, with the "Unite the Right" rally and counter-protest in Charlottesville, Virginia, in 2017 (Southern Poverty Law Center). 1 This incident, along with mass shootings by white supremacists occurring in 2019 in Poway, California, and El Paso, Texas, and the murder of Ahmaud Arbery in 2020 by father and son Gregory and Travis McMichael, has amplified the need for educators and other adults to address race-based hate through conversation with children (Teaching Tolerance). Yet, very few picture books-which often serve as vehicles for engaging young people in critical (race) thinking 2-tackle this troubling truth. Many picture books address race/racism, often through representations of slavery, segregation, exclusion, inequality, and/or related protest, 3 but few picture books directly confront or even acknowledge white supremacy or whiteness. 4 This omission is indicative of Lipsitz's concept of the "possessive investment in whiteness," the idea that White Americans are "encouraged" to "remain true to an identity that provides them with resources, power, and opportunity" (vii), as well as the tendency of White people to avoid naming their own racial identities (see, for instance, Borsheim-Black and Sarigianides; DiAngelo; Hancock and Warren; Lea and Sims; Leonardo; Sue, Race Talk). As DiAngelo argues, "white fragility" prevents White people from deconstructing whiteness and the ways it impacts people of color. Though DiAngelo highlights the importance of going beyond discussions of white supremacy, from which "good" White people can distance themselves, in conversations about racism, it is just as important to address
In response to anti-Black policing in 2020 that led to the deaths of George Floyd and Breonna Tay... more In response to anti-Black policing in 2020 that led to the deaths of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor, Black children and teens turned to poetry as a means to channel their self-described terror, rage, pain, horror, tiredness, and need for change. Reminiscent of the poetry of the Black Arts Movement and works published in The Black Panther newspaper, these poems, many of which call for a "revolution," are reflective of young people's critical engagements with the world and the word. With critical literacy as a framework, I engage in critical discourse analysis to determine how the young poets reimagine literacy as they protest anti-Black policing and racism. By focusing on young people's own grassroots literacy initiatives, which call for the reimagination of blackness and whiteness, and demand truth, justice, and reimagined futures, I demonstrate how educators can reimagine literacy practices to center students' criticalities and prioritize racial justice.
In response to current anti-immigration rhetoric and policy coming from national leadership, the ... more In response to current anti-immigration rhetoric and policy coming from national leadership, the authors engage in multimodal analysis of picture books that humanize individuals who make the journey across the Mexico–U.S. border. Findings suggest that picture book narratives restory anti-immigrant sentiments by (1) placing the child at the center of the story, (2) demonstrating the way in which the (im)migration journey is a shared journey, and (3) featuring expressions of tenderness among the characters. The article emphasizes the importance of elevating young people’s perspectives on Latinx (im)migration through children’s literature.
Since the 2016 presidential election, hate-based speech, crime, and violence have been on the ris... more Since the 2016 presidential election, hate-based speech, crime, and violence have been on the rise in the United States, (re)creating a need for adults to engage children in dialogue related to white supremacy as it exists today, instead of framing it as a problem that ended with the civil rights movement. Following an incident of racist vandalism at her home, the author of this article (a White mother) conducted a search for picture books that could serve as vehicles to discuss race-based hate and whiteness with children like her young Black son.
The authors use critical multicultural analysis and Afro-pessimism to examine the untold stories... more The authors use critical multicultural analysis and Afro-pessimism to examine the untold stories, or “un-tellings,” of the 1992 L. A. riots in Eve Bunting’s award-winning picturebook Smoky Night (1994).
This study examines the ways in which a pair of identical-looking fraternal twins – first-generat... more This study examines the ways in which a pair of identical-looking fraternal twins – first-generation IndianAmerican adolescent male students at a private all-boys school – construct personal meaning, or textual relevance, as readers. Semi-structured interviews with the two young men were conducted to determine the degrees to which their connections to literature were influenced by a) their racial/ethnic/cultural identities, b) their gender identities, and/or c) other aspects of their identities. The brothers’ responses, which differ significantly from one another’s and demonstrate the complexities of constructing meaning from texts, provide new perspective on how to best reach individual students – particularly students from nondominant groups. The data indicates that educators would benefit significantly from including young people’s perspectives in attempts to represent them and their identities within literacy education contexts. Ultimately, this study calls for a broadened theory of reader response – one that accounts for student diversity, within and across groups, and encourages young people to share how their worlds impact their readings of the word.
This article combines interview data from a group of boys of color at an urban single-sex school ... more This article combines interview data from a group of boys of color at an urban single-sex school and content analysis of The Autobiography of Malcolm X and Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone to demonstrate the complexities of readers’ responses to literature. Textual relevance, or the ability to construct personal meaning from literature, emerged in two principal forms: (a) empathetic textual relevance (a mirror approach) and (b) sympathetic textual relevance (a window approach). In addition, textual relevance took shape in forms beyond mirrors or windows. In building upon theories of intersectionality and reader response, I argue that acknowledging the multi-dimensionality of readers’ identities and their meaning-making processes can pave the way for youth empowerment. As such, this work aims to contribute to a more nuanced understanding of students’ experiences as readers and to enhance literacy practices designed to promote equity.
Over the past fifty years, children’s picture books have made great strides toward literary equity... more Over the past fifty years, children’s picture books have made great strides toward literary equity by including more perspectives from and stories about marginalized groups, such as those whose gender identities do not conform to heteronormative standards. While texts featuring gender-variant male characters engage in topics that are far too often shoved into the proverbial closet, what is yet to be determined is the degree to which they adequately reflect the complexity of (gender) identity and to what extent such picture books can counter narratives related to traditional ‘‘masculinity.’’ The purpose of this paper is to critically examine picture book representations of gender variance, as exhibited by male characters, in order to determine the books’ potential for exploring issues of social justice with elementary-age students. This study utilizes a critical multiculturalist lens to challenge the ways in which gender variance is represented in children’s literature and the reasons that young gender-variant male protagonists achieve—or do not achieve—communal acceptance.
This article examines how two Black adolescent boys construct meaning from literature. Their pers... more This article examines how two Black adolescent boys construct meaning from literature. Their perspectives indicate a need to interrogate assumptions about what is relevant to them.
JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, a... more JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact support@jstor.org.
ABSTRACT:In this article, we read Octavia E. Butler's "Bloodchild" as a "payin... more ABSTRACT:In this article, we read Octavia E. Butler's "Bloodchild" as a "paying the rent" story in which reproduction functions as the source of payment made by the Terrans to the Tlic. We use Jenkins's distinctions between "hierarchical body knowledge" and "intelligent body knowledge," which derive from Butler's conception of "body knowledge," to argue that the Tlic's reproduction anxiety results from a legacy of "hierarchical body knowledge" that persists in their approaches to and valuation of their Terran trade partners. The problem with hierarchical body knowledge, as Butler suggests in "Bloodchild," is that it fosters social stratification at the expense of survival and could lead both groups to one-up themselves to death. To avoid such a fate, the story suggests that both groups need to develop a symbiotic love for each other, a love rooted in one of the foundational tenets of intelligent body knowledge—that a body's survival value is more important than its social value.
In response to deficit misconceptions of Black male reading practices and literacies, this paper ... more In response to deficit misconceptions of Black male reading practices and literacies, this paper focuses on the ways in which two Black young men, both in their early 20s, have constructed relevance as readers over the last ten years. The data for this study stems from a longitudinal qualitative study featuring young men who attended the same single-sex school, consisting of grades 4-8, in New York City between 2007 and 2008. Findings of this project point to the need to broaden understandings related to reading and meaning-making in light of readers' complex identities and their own understandings of what it means to engage with texts.
The authors use critical multicultural analysis informed by queer theory to examine the elements ... more The authors use critical multicultural analysis informed by queer theory to examine the elements of Jessica Love’s Julián is a Mermaid (2019) and Julián at the Wedding (2021) that give rise to a queertopia—a world where one’s gender expression(s) and sexual identification(s) are not differences to be tolerated but sources of joy, community, and connection. As such, these two picturebooks disrupt cisheteronormative tropes frequently identified in children’s literature intended to represent LGBTQ+ youth and (re)imagine future, and present, possibilities for gender creative young people (of color).
We, a literacy professor and two K-12 teachers, share our tip for creating a
meaningful, arts-inf... more We, a literacy professor and two K-12 teachers, share our tip for creating a meaningful, arts-infused writing baseline activity that affirms students’ lives and experiences.
Antiracism becomes the focal point of literacy intervention as students engage with music-based t... more Antiracism becomes the focal point of literacy intervention as students engage with music-based texts and visual projects.
Over the last two decades, white supremacist movements have been on the rise in the United States... more Over the last two decades, white supremacist movements have been on the rise in the United States-beginning shortly after the election of President Barack Obama and erupting violently, after the subsequent election of Donald Trump, with the "Unite the Right" rally and counter-protest in Charlottesville, Virginia, in 2017 (Southern Poverty Law Center). 1 This incident, along with mass shootings by white supremacists occurring in 2019 in Poway, California, and El Paso, Texas, and the murder of Ahmaud Arbery in 2020 by father and son Gregory and Travis McMichael, has amplified the need for educators and other adults to address race-based hate through conversation with children (Teaching Tolerance). Yet, very few picture books-which often serve as vehicles for engaging young people in critical (race) thinking 2-tackle this troubling truth. Many picture books address race/racism, often through representations of slavery, segregation, exclusion, inequality, and/or related protest, 3 but few picture books directly confront or even acknowledge white supremacy or whiteness. 4 This omission is indicative of Lipsitz's concept of the "possessive investment in whiteness," the idea that White Americans are "encouraged" to "remain true to an identity that provides them with resources, power, and opportunity" (vii), as well as the tendency of White people to avoid naming their own racial identities (see, for instance, Borsheim-Black and Sarigianides; DiAngelo; Hancock and Warren; Lea and Sims; Leonardo; Sue, Race Talk). As DiAngelo argues, "white fragility" prevents White people from deconstructing whiteness and the ways it impacts people of color. Though DiAngelo highlights the importance of going beyond discussions of white supremacy, from which "good" White people can distance themselves, in conversations about racism, it is just as important to address
In response to anti-Black policing in 2020 that led to the deaths of George Floyd and Breonna Tay... more In response to anti-Black policing in 2020 that led to the deaths of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor, Black children and teens turned to poetry as a means to channel their self-described terror, rage, pain, horror, tiredness, and need for change. Reminiscent of the poetry of the Black Arts Movement and works published in The Black Panther newspaper, these poems, many of which call for a "revolution," are reflective of young people's critical engagements with the world and the word. With critical literacy as a framework, I engage in critical discourse analysis to determine how the young poets reimagine literacy as they protest anti-Black policing and racism. By focusing on young people's own grassroots literacy initiatives, which call for the reimagination of blackness and whiteness, and demand truth, justice, and reimagined futures, I demonstrate how educators can reimagine literacy practices to center students' criticalities and prioritize racial justice.
In response to current anti-immigration rhetoric and policy coming from national leadership, the ... more In response to current anti-immigration rhetoric and policy coming from national leadership, the authors engage in multimodal analysis of picture books that humanize individuals who make the journey across the Mexico–U.S. border. Findings suggest that picture book narratives restory anti-immigrant sentiments by (1) placing the child at the center of the story, (2) demonstrating the way in which the (im)migration journey is a shared journey, and (3) featuring expressions of tenderness among the characters. The article emphasizes the importance of elevating young people’s perspectives on Latinx (im)migration through children’s literature.
Since the 2016 presidential election, hate-based speech, crime, and violence have been on the ris... more Since the 2016 presidential election, hate-based speech, crime, and violence have been on the rise in the United States, (re)creating a need for adults to engage children in dialogue related to white supremacy as it exists today, instead of framing it as a problem that ended with the civil rights movement. Following an incident of racist vandalism at her home, the author of this article (a White mother) conducted a search for picture books that could serve as vehicles to discuss race-based hate and whiteness with children like her young Black son.
The authors use critical multicultural analysis and Afro-pessimism to examine the untold stories... more The authors use critical multicultural analysis and Afro-pessimism to examine the untold stories, or “un-tellings,” of the 1992 L. A. riots in Eve Bunting’s award-winning picturebook Smoky Night (1994).
This study examines the ways in which a pair of identical-looking fraternal twins – first-generat... more This study examines the ways in which a pair of identical-looking fraternal twins – first-generation IndianAmerican adolescent male students at a private all-boys school – construct personal meaning, or textual relevance, as readers. Semi-structured interviews with the two young men were conducted to determine the degrees to which their connections to literature were influenced by a) their racial/ethnic/cultural identities, b) their gender identities, and/or c) other aspects of their identities. The brothers’ responses, which differ significantly from one another’s and demonstrate the complexities of constructing meaning from texts, provide new perspective on how to best reach individual students – particularly students from nondominant groups. The data indicates that educators would benefit significantly from including young people’s perspectives in attempts to represent them and their identities within literacy education contexts. Ultimately, this study calls for a broadened theory of reader response – one that accounts for student diversity, within and across groups, and encourages young people to share how their worlds impact their readings of the word.
This article combines interview data from a group of boys of color at an urban single-sex school ... more This article combines interview data from a group of boys of color at an urban single-sex school and content analysis of The Autobiography of Malcolm X and Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone to demonstrate the complexities of readers’ responses to literature. Textual relevance, or the ability to construct personal meaning from literature, emerged in two principal forms: (a) empathetic textual relevance (a mirror approach) and (b) sympathetic textual relevance (a window approach). In addition, textual relevance took shape in forms beyond mirrors or windows. In building upon theories of intersectionality and reader response, I argue that acknowledging the multi-dimensionality of readers’ identities and their meaning-making processes can pave the way for youth empowerment. As such, this work aims to contribute to a more nuanced understanding of students’ experiences as readers and to enhance literacy practices designed to promote equity.
Over the past fifty years, children’s picture books have made great strides toward literary equity... more Over the past fifty years, children’s picture books have made great strides toward literary equity by including more perspectives from and stories about marginalized groups, such as those whose gender identities do not conform to heteronormative standards. While texts featuring gender-variant male characters engage in topics that are far too often shoved into the proverbial closet, what is yet to be determined is the degree to which they adequately reflect the complexity of (gender) identity and to what extent such picture books can counter narratives related to traditional ‘‘masculinity.’’ The purpose of this paper is to critically examine picture book representations of gender variance, as exhibited by male characters, in order to determine the books’ potential for exploring issues of social justice with elementary-age students. This study utilizes a critical multiculturalist lens to challenge the ways in which gender variance is represented in children’s literature and the reasons that young gender-variant male protagonists achieve—or do not achieve—communal acceptance.
This article examines how two Black adolescent boys construct meaning from literature. Their pers... more This article examines how two Black adolescent boys construct meaning from literature. Their perspectives indicate a need to interrogate assumptions about what is relevant to them.
JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, a... more JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact support@jstor.org.
Uploads
Papers by Katherine (Katie) Sciurba
meaningful, arts-infused writing baseline activity that affirms students’ lives and experiences.
among the characters. The article emphasizes the importance of elevating young people’s perspectives on Latinx (im)migration through children’s literature.
for a broadened theory of reader response – one that accounts for student diversity, within and across groups, and encourages young people to share how their worlds impact their readings of the word.
meaningful, arts-infused writing baseline activity that affirms students’ lives and experiences.
among the characters. The article emphasizes the importance of elevating young people’s perspectives on Latinx (im)migration through children’s literature.
for a broadened theory of reader response – one that accounts for student diversity, within and across groups, and encourages young people to share how their worlds impact their readings of the word.