A Critical Multicultural Analysis of Pluralism in Asian American–Themed Children's Picture Books

• In Event: Fairmont Roundtable Session Fourteen
  In Roundtable Session: The Power of Storytelling: Exploring Representations and (Re)Narrating Experiences Across Racialized and Marginalized Communities (Table 2)

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to analyze Asian American themed children's picture books published between 2020 and 2021 to examine the underlying ideologies in these books. Critical multicultural analysis and Kress and van Leeuwen's visual analysis framework are used to examine whether verbal and visual texts reflect the ideology of cultural pluralism. The results suggest that Asian American picture books that contain either explicit or implicit pluralism can both be valuable for underrepresented students to mirror themselves, for students to learn other cultures, as well as reshaping ideological positions and developing critical thinking skills.
Key Words: Ideology, pluralism, Asian American picture books, critical multicultural analysis, visual analysis.

Authors

• Mengying Xue, Purdue University
  Presenting Author

• Rong Zhang, Purdue University
  Presenting Author