A Controversial Debate

Especially after reading these four articles, I never imagined how controversial the debate between writing literature as an insider or an outsider could be. I consider multicultural literature covering a wide variety of culture and exploring the experiences of people with different backgrounds. But who has the right to write about these? As an insider, the author of literature has personal experience "inside" the cultural group. While those considered an outsider don't have personal experience within a cultural group but can also be experts on the subject. According to Sims Bishop, outsider writers frequently bring their fiction about a cultural group that is not well informed as those who have been acculturated. Writers have to know a culture intimately if they are going to reflect it accurately. I believe this is true, except I also believe that is entirely possible for an outsider to accurately reflect multiculturalism in writing. By excluding writers that are outsiders, we are excluding a lot of great literature in the classroom. That does not mean that all outsider literature is accurate--it would have to be studied to make sure the evidence is factual. But who is to say that insider authors portray accurate information either. Just because a person has a specific background from a cultural group does not necessarily mean that they can correctly portray a culture.

Basically, I believe that it is the teacher's responsibility to look at literature with an extensive eye. That means that I, as a teacher who wants to incorporate multicultural literature in the classroom, have to make it is my responsibility to use the resources available (like book reviews, critique’s opinion, general responses to the book) to determine if the book is appropriate for the schools. I should not include a book that is written by anybody that does not portray culture in an accurate light.