Quality Multicultural Literature for the "Eye" Generation: Webtoons With Controversial Issues and Their Transformative Power for LGBTQ Inclusion

• In Event: 65.080 - Roundtable Session 24
  In Roundtable Session: 65.080-11 - Me, Myself, and Meme(s): Knowledge Production and Media Culture

Abstract

A critical examination of graphic novels that depict controversial issues provides possibilities and options for teachers to restructure and reorganize curricula to meet “the needs of those groups who traditionally have been excluded from the dominant educational discourse”(Giroux, 1992, p.1). Hence, the purpose of this paper is to review some Korean Webtoons that deal with LGBTQ themes in order to show their potential as advocates at the forefront of the struggle for marginalized groups. Hopefully this exploration can open the door for positive changes in numerous educational and social contexts providing useful sources for unwilling, reluctant teachers and teacher educators as well as visually oriented today’s youth.

Author

• Kyoungwan Cathy Shin, Indiana University