ABSTRACT
In this chapter, the author unfolds the references and theoretical stances that inform his position: a cultural studies perspective on children's books that seeks to identify recurrent narratives about 'race' and ethnicity. He focuses on how certain theoretical developments allow to understand better what texts do or attempt to do. The question of why children's literature underrepresents minorities or 'different' ethnical origins has been there for a long time; he attempts to comment on this not so much from the paradigm of representation but thinking about how narrative and identity are intertwined concepts, and how identity is constituted in narratives. The author also explains the selection of the case study materials, 60 children's books recommended to educate on cultural diversity. Children's literature and media appear to be privileged sites for cultural studies and for the analysis of discursive constructions, since these are highly monitored fields informed by consensus in a society.
