ABSTRACT
Representing Africa in Children’s Literature explores how African and Western authors portray youth in contemporary African societies, critically examining the dominant images of Africa and Africans in books published between 1960 and 2005. The book focuses on contemporary children’s and young adult literature set in Africa, examining issues regarding colonialism, the politics of representation, and the challenges posed to both "insiders" and "outsiders" writing about Africa for children.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
chapter
Introduction
part I|34 pages
Image Making and Children's Books
chapter Chapter One|14 pages
Images of West Africa in Children's Books: Replacing Old Stereotypes with New Ones?
chapter Chapter Two|12 pages
Illustrations and the Messages They Convey: African Culture in Picture Books
chapter Chapter Three|6 pages
The “Typical” West African Village Stories
part II|44 pages
Growing Up African and Female in Children's Books
chapter Chapter Four|12 pages
Religion and Childhood in Two African Communities: Ogot's “The Rain Came” and Adichie's Purple Hibiscus
chapter Chapter Five|6 pages
Revising Traditional Cultural Practices in Two Picturebook Versions of African Folktales
chapter Chapter Six|12 pages
African Girls' Sexuality in Selected Fiction for Young Adults
chapter Chapter Seven|12 pages
Individual vs. Communal Healing: Three African Females' Attempts at Constructing Unique Identities
part III|22 pages
Reading African Cultural Survival in Children's Books
chapter Chapter Eight|8 pages
Reading Images of Resistance in Tom Feelings' The Middle Passage
chapter Chapter Nine|12 pages
African Sites of Memory in African-American Children's Literature
part |20 pages
Afterword