Over 40% of the more than 100 million people displaced worldwide are children (UNHCR, 2023). Multicultural literature is used in classrooms to provide representation to and build empathy for children with diverse backgrounds. Books featuring refugee characters and experiences are increasing. The complexity of identities represented in these books is dominated by common tropes of trauma, helplessness, and a perilous journey. Identity complexities remain neglected in multicultural research. The emerging theory of RefugeeCrit forefronts authentic understanding of refugee experiences and complex identities (Strekalova-Hughes, 2019).This study undertakes a critical content analysis of three refugee-themed children’s books. By applying two critical visual methodologies—in constant conversation with RefugeeCrit—I analyzed how trauma, helplessness, agency, the journey, and anti-essentialized complex identities were represented. These tropes were embedded in the books explicitly and through implied interpretation, but glimpses of complex identities were also shown in original interactions between word and image. The results show the potential of RefugeeCrit to extract problematic representations and the continued importance of critical evaluations of representations in refugee-themed literature.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:UPSALLA1/oai:DiVA.org:mau-69505 |
| Date | January 2024 |
| Creators | Schneller, Jacquelyn Marie |
| Publisher | Malmö universitet, Malmö universitetsbibliotek, Malmö universitet, Institutionen för globala politiska studier (GPS) |
| Source Sets | DiVA Archive at Upsalla University |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Student thesis, info:eu-repo/semantics/bachelorThesis, text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Rights | info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess |
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