The Insider/Outsider Debate

I like to think of myself as someone who usually sees both sides of a debate or controversy.  In the case of the insider/outsider debate, I would have to say that I am sticking with my norm and I can see positives to both types of authors writing multicultural literature.  It has been said in an article we read for class that the majority of the literature written about Native Americans was written by people outside of the Native American culture.  Yes, some of this literature is stereotypical or not of good quality, but some of it is quality literature that can be used to spread knowledge of this minority group. Along with Native American literature, many other books about minority cultures are written by outsiders. I think if an outsider as been immersed in the culture and performed a great amount of research about the minority culture he or she is writing about then he or she can create a quality and informative piece of literature.  I believe that since all of this work has to be done, such as living in the culture and researching about its history, being an outsider and writing quality literature is probably more difficult than writing as an insider.

As an insider, it is likely that it will be easier to write a quality piece of multicultural literature (although after reading these last few articles I am not exactly sure what my definition of multicultural literature is!).  Although I think it is easier for an insider to write about their culture because they have personal experience and family stories from the past to base their literature upon, this does not mean that every book by an insider is quality multicultural literature.  It can not be expected that one person from a culture can represent everyone's experiences in that culture; or that because a person is an insider that they are a good writer.

I think the insider/outsider debate is a great idea to think about when looking at multicultural literature.  When thinking about the author's credibility it is important to know if they are an insider or an outsider.  If he or she was an outsider it is important to know how he or she gathered the information on the culture in order to write the book.  Although insiders may have an easier time writing about their culture, in our current society it is easier for people of the majority to get books published.  I am glad I now know to make it a point to find out if an author is an insider or outsider and to look into the author's background and credibility either way as an insider or outsider.  I look forward to hearing others ideas in class on Wednesday!