As I change strategies to read straight through one book at a time instead of juggling 5 or 6, I'm also recommitting to reading through the University of Wisconsin-Madison's Disrupting Whiteness core reading list for an introduction to the problem of whiteness in librarianship and returning to the question of the state of young adult literary criticism in recent years.
For the latter, to create my own bibliography, I ran four searches in two different academic databases for articles on literary theory and young adult literature from 2010 through this year. I selected 68 titles that include articles from 40 academic journals, chapters from six books, and two doctoral dissertations. Am I actually going to read all this? I plan to, but I may run out of steam or get attracted by something shiny. All this is driven (A) by an improbably dream that I can make a significant contribution to the fields of librarianship and young adult literature and (B) by the pleasure I take in studying and, perhaps to an even greater degree, the pleasure I take in planning to study these subjects. Why drop these here? To be blunt, I have nothing better to report at this point, and I want to announce something, even if it is only an intention to report future findings. If you enjoy bibliographies as much as I do, read on.
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One more little paper to go, and I've completed all my work toward my Master's in Library and Information Science. In the meantime, a new month brings a new, post-academic reading plan. I've decided to pursue long-term reading projects on racism and gender/sexuality to try to figure out my place as a natural member of the dominant group who wishes to help break up his group's dominance. Does that make sense? Also, continuing with my explorations into surrealism, adolescent development, and the novels of A. S. King. Also, continuing to read books on addiction and recovery, because my life depends upon it. I have multiple spreadsheets detailing how this should all play out, along with a flexibility that will keep me from cracking when I don't stay 100% on track.
Anyway, not much specifically library stuff going on here, but I will be recording my thoughts about what I'm reading. When something library-related does happen, I'll let you know about that, too. Thanks for joining me. My one-year-old loves "Thomas and Friends," a toy model-based television series about living trains who strive to be useful for a rich capitalist on a British island. Something never sat quite right with me about the series, despite its narration by favorite comedian George Carlin. Imagine my surprise, or don't, when a Google search for "Thomas and Friends Marxist critique" came back with several hits: Slate's "Thomas the Imperialist Tank Engine" from 2011, The Guardian's "Thomas the Tank Engine had to shut the hell up to save children everywhere" from 2014, and the New Yorker's "The Repressive, Authoritarian Soul of 'Thomas the Tank Engine & Friends'" for instance. Sir Topham Hat as robber baron teaches trains and children that they must be "really useful engines" to have any worth at all. Since the barrage of criticism, the show has apparently been "shunted down the left track," angering conservatives with its "Marxist undertones." This revelation dovetails with the rabbit hole into which I've recently dived concerning pure vs. applied literary criticism and young adult literature.
There is a delicious irony in using Marxist criticism (an applied criticism) to point out the death of play in literary exploration. Play is the distinguishing element between the two approaches to literature, I think. Applied criticism seeks to establish that a work is "good for something," that it serves a purpose. Articles on how to use YA literature for this or that fall into this category: awakening empathy or fighting patriarchy as well as more traditional pedagogical concerns. Marxists don't decry the concept of being "really useful," after all. They only demand that one be useful (or at the very least, not harmful) to the right people: in this case, the workers. The other two critical theories Randy Ribay suggests we teach high school kids--feminism and postcolonialism--similarly demand that one be useful to women and indigenous peoples. There is nothing wrong with this: public education has multiple purposes--among them, to create good citizens, and good citizens care about equity and justice. Toward a Plan to Take Lit Crit, YA Lit (& Teens) Seriously, with some autobiographical extrania3/13/2021 Notes toward a new project
OK. There's a new bug in my brain. There's a new stumbling block. I'm obsessing a bit on having lost A.S. King as a Twitter follower. We had gone back and forth a bit about the need for serious critical treatment of YA literature--like (in my head) examining YA fiction through the lenses of not only pedagogy (what is its educational value? how do I best teach YA lit?) and politics (Marxist, feminist, & postcolonial theories), but psychoanalytical, deconstructionist, and postmodernist theory. I had brainstormed a grand project investigating the meanings of surrealism, the connection between surrealism and adolescence, and King's surrealist novels. However, I blew it. I said something offensive or was just plain irrelevant and uninteresting on Twitter, or she didn't like the four-star review I gave Still Life with Tornado (which I may change, just because on rereading it for a paper, it gets better and better), and she left, just before her birthday. Or maybe it was just time for her to cut back on the number of people she was following, and I didn't make the cut. I don't know. All I know is three things: (1) That I'm bored with YA lit crit and want to inject something new into it, (2) I have difficulty restraining impulses to say things on social media (was it my comments about my past behavior with women that I regret, or the somewhat mean things I said about Rainbow Rowell's Fangirl, or ...?), and (3) I have a tendency to get really excited about connections and overstep boundaries. Anyway, she no longer follows me. Regardless, she seems like a stellar human being, and she's been through some rough stuff and come through the other side. I admire her, and my interest in her writing continues. Consider this a list of works to examine as a preliminary for a series of articles, and please suggest more if you know of anything, especially anything more recent: Looking at Disrupting Whiteness in Libraries and Librarianship: A Reading List and thinking ... How do you commit to disrupting toxic white maleness and present yourself as the best person for the job as a white male in the library world? I guess I can begin by reading through the Core Resources from that list and reflecting on each of them here. This is not a great historical moment to be a white male. Have to do some real soul searching about how to approach this profession.
I saw a meme shared by a conservative friend that said, “You must always be willing to truly consider evidence that contradicts your beliefs and admit the possibility that you may be wrong. Intelligence isn’t knowing everything. It’s the ability to challenge everything you know.”
Good, solid, liberal advice from my youth: Question everything. The problem with this sentiment in the age of COVID-19 unfolds like this: It seems (to me) to assume that all information is equal, that the opinions of the average high-school dropout are equal to those of the expert with a relevant doctorate. They’re not. Much has changed since I was a kid. When I was a child, cultural relativism and suspicion cast upon expert opinion was the purview of the countercultural Left—the neo-hippies, the punks, etc. Now, the Right has embraced postmodernism as a great equalizer for science and religion. Science is suspect. Double-blind, randomized placebo trials go head-to-head against wild conspiracy theories … and lose. How to argue for critical thought when I in my youth defined “critical thought” as analysis of majority opinion and adoption of its opposite? In some ways, I’ve finally outgrown my rebellious adolescence just in time to see the enemy regress into childish tantrums. In some ways, nothing has changed. In some ways, everything is turned on its head. The plan for the next few posts is to delve into this issue: Do public library collections need to include all perspectives? Including those without rational or legitimate scientific basis? Including those that conflict with the goal of providing a safe, welcoming space for marginalized people? Questions of neutrality and diversity will weigh heavily on this issue. Perhaps the most important question will be, Does the world need yet another opinion from a white male of middle-class extraction? The answer to this is profoundly and resoundingly “No.” But I am posting anyway, for these reasons:
So far, and possibly finally, I will include the following articles, blog posts, and papers in my exploration. I welcome other resources, especially those from the conservative side and/or in favor of neutrality, as I wish to understand that part of the debate more fully. It’s not easy to find the conservative voices among librarians. If you want to get a hold of me, just comment below or send me a message on the Contact page. Burke, S. K. (2010, Summer). Social tolerance and racist materials in public libraries. Reference & User Services Quarterly 49(4), 369-379. Farkas, M. (2019, November 4). When libraries and librarians pretend to be neutral, they often cause harm [Blog post]. Retrieved from https://meredith.wolfwater.com/wordpress/2019/11/04/when-libraries-and-librarians-pretend-to-be-neutral-they-often-cause-harm/ Farkas, M. (2020, May 1). When speech isn’t free: Ensuring free speech requires more than neutrality. Retrieved from https://americanlibrariesmagazine.org/2020/05/01/neutrality-when-speech-isnt-free/ Lauren (2020, June 8). We need to talk about diversity and neutrality in libraries [Blog post]. Retrieved from https://hacklibraryschool.com/2020/06/08/we-need-to-talk-about-diversity-and-neutrality-in-libraries/ Mary Elizabeth (2020, February 25). Libraries should take sides: Breaking down the neutrality myth [Blog post]. Retrieved from https://hacklibraryschool.com/2020/02/25/libraries-should-take-sides/ Neal, J. (2018, June 1). Are libraries neutral? Highlights from the Midwinter President’s Program. Retrieved from https://americanlibrariesmagazine.org/2018/06/01/are-libraries-neutral/ Rinne, N. A. (2018, May 25). Against the Library Bill of Rights — unpublished essay from 2013. Retrieved from https://reliablesourcessite.wordpress.com/2018/05/25/against-the-library-bill-of-rights-unpublished-essay-from-2013/ Rinne, N. A. (2018, June 4). Should offensive books be removed from your library’s collection? [Blog post]. Retrieved from https://reliablesourcessite.wordpress.com/2018/06/04/should-offensive-books-be-removed-from-your-librarys-collection/ Sendaula, S. (2017, July 7). Libraries are not neutral spaces: Social justice advocacy in librarianship. Retrieved from https://www.libraryjournal.com/?detailStory=libraries-are-not-neutral-spaces-ala-annual-2017 Sonnie, A. (2018, April 5). Advancing racial equity in public libraries: Case studies from the field. (Issue Brief No. 8). Government Alliance on Race and Equity. Retrieved from https://www.racialequityalliance.org/advancing-racial-equity-in-public-libraries-case-studies-from-the-field/ |
AuthorJeffrey Babbitt, MLIS, is a graduate of the School of Library and Information Science at Wayne State University who is pursuing a career as a librarian in Michigan. Subject Headings
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