Arts, Faculty of
Information, School of
DSpace
UBCV
Luo, Yi
Master of Arts - MA
University of British Columbia
Along with unceasing refugee crises, the last few decades have seen a rapid growth of refugee experience depiction in children’s literature. Refugee stories for children, as “an emergent genre” (Hope, “One Day We Had to Run” 296), have attained increasing scholarly attention. Given the inclination to focus the portrayal of refugee experience mainly on “refugee flight” in many children’s picture books (Strekalova-Hughes 24), scholars have underscored the importance of more diverse and nuanced representations of the lives of refugee children that transcend the mere refugee flight to reflect their cultures, histories, agency and tenacity, as well as explain the reasons causing the flight (Tomsic and Deery; Strekalova-Hughes; Darragh and Kelley; Hope). This thesis examines the representations of refugee experiences depicted in three recently published Canadian picture books: The Doll (Tran-Davies and Puth), Salma the Syrian Chef (Ramadan and Bron) and The Paper Boat (Lam). Drawing on the RefugeeCrit framework (Strekalova-Hughes), I perform a close reading of the selected picture books, taking into consideration words and images, to examine the refugee experience representations, while situating it within the larger body of “children’s literature of atrocity” (Baer 382; Kidd, “‘A’ is for Auschwitz” 120). The goal of this study is to add to the relatively limited scholarship drawing on the RefugeeCrit framework in analyzing children’s picture books about refugees, especially in the context of Canadian children’s literature.
REPRESENTING TRAUMA AND THE REFUGEE EXPERIENCE: APPLYING REFUGEECRIT TO RECENT CANADIAN PICTURE BOOKS ABOUT REFUGEES by Yi Luo B.A., Renmin University of China, 2020 A THESIS SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF ARTS in THE FACULTY OF GRADUATE AND POSTDOCTORAL STUDIES (Children’s Literature) THE UNIVERSITY OF BRITISH COLUMBIA (Vancouver) March 2024 © Yi Luo, 2024 ii The following individuals certify that they have read, and recommend to the Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies for acceptance, the thesis entitled: Representing Trauma and the Refugee Experience: Applying RefugeeCrit to Recent Canadian Picture Books about Refugees submitted by Yi Luo in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in Children’s Literature Examining Committee: Dr. Theresa Rogers, Language, Department of Language & Literacy Education, UBC Supervisor Dr. Elizabeth Marshall, Faculty of Education, Simon Fraser University Supervisory Committee Member Dr. Tess Prendergast, School of Information, UBC Supervisory Committee Member iii Abstract Along with unceasing refugee crises, the last few decades have seen a rapid growth of refugee experience depiction in children’s literature. Refugee stories for children, as “an emergent genre” (Hope, “One Day We Had to Run” 296), have attained increasing scholarly attention. Given the inclination to focus the portrayal of refugee experience mainly on “refugee flight” in many children’s picture books (Strekalova-Hughes 24), scholars have underscored the importance of more diverse and nuanced representations of the lives of refugee children that transcend the mere refugee flight to reflect their cultures, histories, agency and tenacity, as well as explain the reasons causing the flight (Tomsic and Deery; Strekalova-Hughes; Darragh and Kelley; Hope). This thesis examines the representations of refugee experiences depicted in three recently published Canadian picture books: The Doll (Tran-Davies and Puth), Salma the Syrian Chef (Ramadan and Bron) and The Paper Boat (Lam). Drawing on the RefugeeCrit framework (Strekalova-Hughes), I perform a close reading of the selected picture books, taking into consideration words and images, to examine the refugee experience representations, while situating it within the larger body of “children’s literature of atrocity” (Baer 382; Kidd, “‘A’ is for Auschwitz” 120). The goal of this study is to add to the relatively limited scholarship drawing on the RefugeeCrit framework in analyzing children’s picture books about refugees, especially in the context of Canadian children’s literature. iv Lay Summary Situating three recent Canadian picture books within the broader context of “children’s literature of atrocity” (Baer, 382; Kidd, “‘A’ is for Auschwitz” 120), this thesis examines the representations of refugee experiences depicted in The Doll (Tran-Davies & Puth), Salma the Syrian Chef (Ramadan & Bron) and The Paper Boat (Lam). The Refugee Critical Race Theory (RefugeeCrit) is employed to the close reading of the selected titles to examine the images of refugees and the Western world, as well as their relationship and the underlying causes of the displacement. The findings indicate that these three picture books exhibit distinct narrative strategies in representing the refugee experience and, to varying degrees, deviate from the prevailing trauma-centered narrative found in children's literature about refugees. v Preface This thesis is the original, unpublished, and independent work by the author, Yi Luo. vi Table of Contents Abstract ......................................................................................................................................... iii Lay Summary ............................................................................................................................... iv Preface .............................................................................................................................................v Table of Contents ......................................................................................................................... vi List of Figures ............................................................................................................................. viii Acknowledgements ...................................................................................................................... ix Dedication .......................................................................................................................................x Chapter 1: Introduction ........................................................................................................... 1 1.1 Motivation for the Study ..............................................................................................1 1.2 Purpose of and Questions for the Study ......................................................................2 1.3 The Significance of the Study ......................................................................................4 1.4 Overview of Chapters ..................................................................................................6 Chapter 2: Literature Review .................................................................................................. 8 2.1 Introduction ..................................................................................................................8 2.2 The Traumatized Refugee Image .................................................................................8 2.3 Existing Scholarship on Refugee Experience Representation in Children’s Picture Books ........................................................................................................................ 10 2.4 Children’s Literature of Atrocity ...............................................................................16 2.5 The Word-Image Relationship in Picture Books .......................................................19 2.6 Conclusion .................................................................................................................23 Chapter 3: Methodology......................................................................................................... 26 3.1 Introduction ................................................................................................................26 vii 3.2 Text Selection Rationale ............................................................................................26 3.3 Theoretical Framework and Method for the Analysis of Primary Texts ...................28 3.4 Significant Terms .......................................................................................................31 Chapter 4: Findings: The Doll, Salma the Syrian Chef, and The Paper Boat .................... 33 4.1 Introduction ................................................................................................................33 4.2 The Doll .....................................................................................................................34 4.3 Salma the Syrian Chef ...............................................................................................42 4.4 The Paper Boat ..........................................................................................................49 Chapter 5: Conclusion ............................................................................................................ 58 5.1 Discussion of the Research Questions .......................................................................58 5.2 Implications, Limitations and Suggestions for Future Research ...............................63 Bibliography .................................................................................................................................72 viii List of Figures Figure 1 Tran-Davies, N. and Puth, R. (2021). The Traumatic Flight in The Doll. The Doll. [picture book]. Toronto, Canada: Second Story Press. ................................................................. 36 Figure 2 Tran-Davies, N. and Puth, R. (2021). Watching the Syrian refugees on TV. The Doll. [picture book]. Toronto, Canada: Second Story Press. ................................................................. 39 Figure 3 Ramadan, D. & Bron, A. (2020). Distressed Mother. Salma the Syrian Chef. [picture book]. Toronto, Canada: Annick Press. ........................................................................................ 44 Figure 4 Ramadan, D. & Bron, A. (2020). Children Sharing Cultural Dishes. Salma the Syrian Chef. [picture book]. Toronto, Canada: Annick Press. ................................................................. 47 Figure 5 Lam, T. (2020). Newspaper Collages on the Endpapers. The Paper Boat. [picture book]. Toronto, Canada: Owlkids Books. ................................................................................................ 52 Figure 6 Lam, T. (2020). Families in A Canadian Metropolis. The Paper Boat. [picture book]. Toronto, Canada: Owlkids Books. ................................................................................................ 55 ix Acknowledgements I want to acknowledge my thesis committee’s contribution to this project, as their expertise in this field and guidance has greatly nurtured me. Especially, I want to express my immense gratitude to Dr. Theresa Rogers for her invaluable support during my study in the Master of Arts in Children’s Literature (MACL) program. Dr. Rogers goes above and beyond as a supervisor, providing constructive and timely feedback as well as offering support and genuine care for her students. I would also like to express my heartfelt appreciation to Dr. Tess Prendergast for brainstorming ideas with me and meticulously proofreading my writings. I am grateful for the help and support I received from the faculty, staff, and peers in the MACL program. In addition, I would like to offer my sincere thanks to the School of Information, St. John's College, and the University of British Columbia for their gracious financial support provided through scholarships and awards. Because of various complications in life, this year has been exceptionally challenging for me. Unforeseen difficulties had a way of casting a dark cloud over me, making it harder to see the light at the end of the tunnel. If it hadn’t been for the kindness, encouragement, understanding, and support from my family, friends, and supervisors, I wouldn’t have been able to find my footing. I want to take this opportunity to sincerely thank each and every person who has been there for me. x Dedication This thesis is dedicated to my mother, Haiyan Long (June 24, 1974 - September 11, 2023), whose optimism and resilience brought great happiness to people around her, especially her daughter, me. With her unwavering love and support, I was able to pursue my passion for children’s education and welfare. With her encouragement and optimism, I was always confident in conquering whatever difficulties encountered in life. To Mom: You are the best Mom in the world. You are the person I look up to the most. Your spirit will always be alive in me. May all the blessings and love be with you. 1 Chapter 1: Introduction 1.1 Motivation for the Study Before embarking on my journey in the Master of Arts in Children's Literature (MACL) program at the University of British Columbia (UBC), I served as a volunteer teacher at GuangAi Orphanage, teaching first-grade English in the rural outskirts of Beijing. The overwhelming majority of children there have experienced acute trauma during their early childhood, which encompasses abandonment, parental loss, violence, accidents, natural disasters, poverty, medical conditions, and a myriad of other circumstances. During my time there, I was able to learn about the adverse experiences those young children had encountered and was profoundly humbled by the resilience they had exhibited. Since then, I have resolved to channel my professional endeavors towards the advancement of children's welfare and the cultivation of resilience in children confronted with adversities and traumatic incidents. With this objective in mind, I have devoted the past three years of my studies in the MACL program to researching childhood trauma and resilience in the context of children’s literature. I am grateful to have found faculty members who share similar interests. By drawing inspiration from the committee members’ research, I limited the scope of this research to the representation of the refugee experience in children’s picture books. While I was working on this thesis, the escalation of the global refugee crisis was triggered by the Russian invasion of Ukraine, compelling millions of Ukrainian refugees to flee their homes and seek refuge in unfamiliar lands. In light of the ongoing escalation of the refugee crisis in the global context, the significance of this study becomes more apparent. 2 1.2 Purpose of and Questions for the Study The main objective of this study is to apply the refugee critical race theory (RefugeeCrit) to the examination of three newly published Canadian picture books, The Doll (2021) by Nhung N. Tran-Davies (author) and Ravy Puth (illustrator), Salma the Syrian Chef (2020) by Danny Ramadan (author) and Anna Bron (illustrator) and The Paper Boat (2020) by Thao Lam. The three selected picture books all revolve around a child protagonist who comes from a refugee background, depicting their lived experience as a refugee. As I will illustrate, these picture books deviate from the dominant formula of refugee narratives in children’s picture books, albeit to varying degrees. Current scholarship on refugee experience representation has problematized the portrayal of the refugee experience simply as “the refugee flight” in many picture books for children in the name of invoking empathy (Tomsic and Deery; Strekalova-Hughes; Darragh and Kelley; Hope). Stories that center around the traumatic flight leave little space for depictions of life beyond the flight and often fail to reveal the socio-political underpinnings of the displacement. Furthermore, the depiction of child refugees in picture books, specifically emphasizing their traumatic ordeals, frequently mirrors the recurring “wounded child” trope (Kidd, “‘A’ is for Auschwitz” 126) prevalent in the broader realm of “children’s literature of atrocity” (Kidd, “‘A’ is for Auschwitz” 120). The primary aim of this study is to examine how the refugee experience is portrayed in the selected children’s picture books and how it fits within the broader context of “children’s literature of atrocity” (Kidd, “‘A’ is for Auschwitz” 120). Furthermore, this research seeks to delve into representations of refugee children’s experiences beyond the traumatic flight that 3 encompass the multifaceted social and political context that drove their displacement, as well as the representation of their agency and resilience. Recognizing that picture book is a multimodal form that encompasses both visuals and written texts, my close reading of the selected picture books concentrates on narrative strategies, with consideration of the interplay between words and images. For each book, drawing on the RefugeeCrit framework, I examine the portrayal of the protagonist’s experience as a refugee child. My analysis is guided by the following three research questions that each include sub-questions: 1. Trauma Representation and The Child Protagonist Portrayal: How is trauma depicted in these books? How is the child protagonist depicted in the face of trauma? How does the book represent the child refugee protagonists and their lives? In what ways do the selected picture books conform to or deviate from the predominant refugee flight narrative and the “wounded child” trope (Kidd, “‘A’ is for Auschwitz” 126) in children’s picture books? 2. Refugee Representation and the Image of the West: How are the refugees and the West represented in the book? What is the relationship/ dynamic between the West and the refugees, and how is it depicted in the book? Does the story showcase the protagonist and the refugee people’s agency and resilience? If so, how are they reflected? 3. Reasons for the Refugee Flight: Are the broader socio-political reasons for the refugee flight reflected? If so, how do they unfold in the narrative? 4 1.3 The Significance of the Study According to the UN Refugee Agency, by the end of 2022, approximately 108.4 million individuals were forcibly displaced, among whom 40%, around 43.3 million, were children under 18 years old (UNHCR). As more public awareness has been drawn to children of refugee backgrounds over the past few decades, the children’s literature market has also witnessed a significant increase in the portrayal of refugee experiences (Hope, “One Day We Had to Run” 296). As the research in refugee picture books progresses, scholars have noted that the emphasis on the traumatic experiences of a refugee’s life in many children’s picture books may be problematic for it overshadows other aspects of one’s life and characteristics, as well as the socio-political reasons that led to the flight (e.g. Tomsic and Deery; Strekalova-Hughes; Darragh and Kelley; Hope). By solely emphasizing the traumatic flight without providing a broader context of the refugee experiences, it is possible that young readers with little to no knowledge of the flight may come to the assumption that violence is the defining characteristic of children from refugee backgrounds, overshadowing other experiences, cultures, and personal qualities (Strekalova-Hughes 32). Consequently, they may develop a form of empathy that is permissive (Pupavac 19), aligning the refugees with a perception of victimhood characterized by dependency and powerlessness (Kisiara 163). In response to the prevalence of the trauma-centered storytelling in children's literature concerning refugees, Ekaterina Strekalova-Hughes puts forward a new framework, the refugee critical race theory (RefugeeCrit), to critically scrutinize the representation of refugee experience. RefugeeCrit is developed upon refugee studies and critical race theory, whose goal is to “forefront refugee voices” in refugee experience representations by unpacking the trauma 5 centered narratives in refugee stories in children’s literature (Strekalova-Hughes et al., “Refugee Critical Race Theory in Education”). RefugeeCrit recognizes the complexity of refugee experiences and identities, as well as the “colonial, imperial, and racist mentalities” that contribute to the flight (Strekalova-Hughes 25). Strekalova-Hughes employs the lens of RefugeeCrit to analyze how the refugee experience is depicted in picture books that feature children from refugee backgrounds. Her study is particularly concerned with the correlation between the representation of refugee experiences in children's picture books and their legal refugee status, focusing on the "socio-historical and cultural complexities" (Strekalova-Hughes 35), as well as the inclusion of agential voices and counter narratives. Because the idea of “unpacking refugee flight” (Strekalova-Hughes 23) is relatively new, there are very few studies that have employed RefugeeCrit to the analysis of children’s literature. Within the existing RefugeeCrit scholarships, despite the fact that this theoretical framework has primarily been utilized to evaluate children’s picture books, there remains a gap in research dedicated exclusively to Canadian picture books. Furthermore, due to their recent publication within the past three years, all three picture books, The Doll (2021), Salma the Syrian Chef (2020), and The Paper Boat (2020) have received limited scholarly attention. Moreover, current scholarship indicates a noticeable absence of representation of lives beyond the flight in children’s picture books about refugees, in conjunction with the prevalence of the trauma-centered narrative (e.g. Strekalova-Hughes; Ward and Warren; Darragh and Kelley). Consequently, there is a scarcity of critical examination of representations of the refugee experience that surpass the traumatic flight, providing abundant space for further exploration. 6 Through this study, I hope to bridge the gap in the current literature concerning the representation of refugee experiences in children’s picture books and the application of RefugeeCrit in the analysis of children’s literature. To achieve this, I will incorporate perspectives from children’s literature regarding trauma representation of children and RefugeeCrit to analyze the representations of child refugee experiences in the context of three recent Canadian picture books featuring child refugee protagonists. 1.4 Overview of Chapters The next chapter provides a survey of existing scholarship on the representation of refugee children’s experiences in children’s picture books. In order to offer a contextual background on the depiction of refugees in children’s picture books, I scaffold the implicit connection between the traumatized refugee image in popular perception and the representation of refugees in children’s picture books. I further contextualize the trauma-centered narrative in children’s picture books featuring child refugees within the broader literature of trauma studies in children’s literature. Chapter 3 presents the rationale for text selection, as well as the theoretical framework and method for text analysis. I also include a list of significant terms that are pertinent to the visual analysis of the selected picture books, along with their explanations. In Chapter 4, I examine The Doll, Salma the Syrian Chef and The Paper Boat, respectively, through a close reading of the words and images, applying the RefugeeCrit framework. The analyses are guided by the research topics and questions listed above. 7 In the last chapter, I revisit the research questions within the context of related scholarly literature, identify the implications and the limitations of the study, and propose suggestions for future research, and provide a concluding remark. 8 Chapter 2: Literature Review 2.1 Introduction Current research on refugee experience representation in children’s picture books has noted a focus on the “forced-to-flee” narrative (Strekalova-Hughes 23), often neglecting aspects of the complex reasons for leaving a country as well as the experiences of life after and beyond the flight. In the following literature review, I survey the existing scholarship on representations of child refugees and major themes in children’s picture books about refugees, giving special attention to how picture books featuring child refugee protagonists represent trauma and resilience. In the first section, drawing from refugee studies, I investigate the traumatized refugee image to establish the context for refugee representation in children’s literature. In the second section, I offer an overview of current scholarships on the representation of refugee experiences in children’s picture books, identifying common themes and patterns. In the third section, I situate the scholarship on representations of child refugees in picture books amidst the broader literature on “children’s literature of atrocity” (Kidd, “‘A’ is for Auschwitz” 120). The “wounded child” trope (Kidd, “‘A’ is for Auschwitz” 126) and its connection with the portrayal of traumatized child refugees in children’s picture books are highlighted. And finally, in the fourth section, I provide a survey on the picture book form as a unique medium for representations of trauma in relation to refugee experiences. 2.2 The Traumatized Refugee Image Before diving into the scholarly literature, it is crucial to identify the official meanings of refugee and refugee experience. According to the 1951 United Nations Refugee Convention: 9 A refugee is someone who is unable or unwilling to return to their country of origin owing to a well-founded fear of being persecuted for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group, or political opinion. (2) This definition suggests that the refugee experience entails forced migration, often accompanied by experiences of “suffering, deprivation, and powerlessness” (Kisiara 163). The general perception of the refugee image is intimately linked to the legal implications inherent in the refugee status. Through the widespread circulation of images on social media depicting sick and distraught refugees, especially women and children, the portrayal of refugees as traumatized victims has become firmly entrenched in the public consciousness, with the intention of inspiring humanitarian actions (Pupavac 1; Kisiara 162-163). For instance, Pupavac offers an explanation for how the image of sick refugees is constructed by pathologizing them in a health diagram. While the portrayal of refugees as sick or traumatized can help them obtain resources for their resettlement, it also reinforces the perception of their incapability and passiveness, thus justifying the imposition of decision-making on them (2, 16-21). Perceiving refugees based on a trauma-centered identity risks what Talcott Parsons calls “permissive empathy”, which, by treating the marginalized group as less capable or helpless, creates a divide between refugees and the larger society instead of an equal relationship (Pupavac 19). As increasing awareness of refugee issues has been raised, arguably more refugee voices are heard across numerous platforms, from academia to social media. While suffering undeniably constitutes a substantial component of the refugee experience and warrants due acknowledgment, Otieno Kisiara (2015) contends that the issue with trauma-based representations lies in their tendency to perpetuate the perception of refugees as dependent and powerless, despite ostensibly 10 empowering refugees in their countries of asylum. Consequently, they contribute to the reinforcement of unequal power dynamics between refugees and the host country (163). Approaching this issue from varying perspectives, researchers have problematized the portrayal of refugees as traumatized victims, which leads to othering and unequal power dynamics (e.g. Pupavac; Kisiara; Tomsic and Deery). The aforementioned research concerning refugee representation is key to analyzing children’s literature as many children’s books that center the refugee experience tend to highlight the “perilous and traumatic journey rather than providing a fuller portrayal of the refugee characters and their lives before and beyond” (Darragh and Kelley 21) and/or adopt a reassuring but romanticized ending where the refugees are rescued or welcomed by the Western “helping hands” (Hope, “Applying RefugeeCrit” 192). The following section provides a summary of existing scholarships that survey the collective body of children’s picture books featuring child refugees to distill common themes and patterns in this emerging literary subgenre. In addition, some significant perspectives from studies on individual picture books are also referenced. 2.3 Existing Scholarship on Refugee Experience Representation in Children’s Picture Books Literary works for children and young adults often “respond to and represent a political climate in which they are produced” (Dudek 364). Over the last few decades, there has been a significant growth in children’s books featuring refugee experiences, as a result of the increasing awareness and effort towards refugee crises happening across the globe (Hope; Dolan). Rudine Sims Bishops proposes that children’s literature serve as “mirrors, windows, and sliding glass doors” for children to find representations of their own experiences and also to understand 11 others’ (ix). Children’s literature about the refugee experience is hence recognized as “an ideal context for sharing the stories, feelings and fears that many children have had to deal with in their relatively short lives, and expose stereotypes and media myths at the same time” (Hope, “One Day We Had to Run” 302). The mounting popularity of refugee picture books is accompanied by an expanding critical inspection from literary scholars. While a fair amount of literature has been dedicated to close readings of individual picture books (e.g. Dudek; Duckels and Jaques; Pesonen; Hope), there is comparatively limited scholarship (e.g. Warnqvist; Strekalova-Hughes; Ward and Warren; Darragh and Kelley) that “extensively and critically analyze[s] the collective body of children’s picture books portraying refugees” to distill common themes and patterns (Darragh and Kelley 23). Based on studies that critically examine the collective body of children’s picture books portraying refugees, it has been observed that children’s picture books that center refugee experiences tend to share common themes, such as fleeing from war and violence, hope and resilience, friendship and humanitarian spirit, consequent trauma and challenges faced in the resettling country, “preservation of meaningful items and traditions”, and “sharing stories of family and culture” (Dolan; Nath and Grote-Garcia 133; Crawford and Roberts). Among these themes, the “forced-to-flee” narrative stands the most prominent (Strekalova-Hughes 23) and has been the subject of extensive discussion in current literature. Analyzing 45 narrative picture books featuring children from refugee backgrounds, Strekalova-Hughes notes that an overwhelming majority of the stories forefront “a leaving-home-for-safety narrative” (31), while the reasons behind the refugee flight are rarely discussed. Ward and Warren’s study on a collection of picture books (36) and chapter books (9) also has 12 found that 32 out of 45 books focus on the perilous journey of the refugee flight, and only 9 focus on the life after the flight (405–413). The prevalence of the traumatic refugee flight in children’s picture books is again confirmed by Janine Darragh and Jane Kelley’s study on 40 award-winning and “best of” children’s picture books that portray refugees, noting that majority of the books analyzed include depiction of trauma, especially in the form of violence such as war, injury, and other life-threatening situations (20-35). Some scholars (e.g., Ward and Warren; Hope) analogize the over-emphasis on the traumatic refugee flight to “the single story” proposed by Nigerian writer Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie: The single story creates stereotypes, and the problem with stereotypes is not that they are untrue, but that they are incomplete. They make one story become the only story. (Adichie) It is acknowledged that being forced to flee is an important part of what makes up the refugee lived experience, and it would be problematic to leave out such a phase of the refugee life (Darragh and Kelley 33), especially given that readers are encouraged to develop empathy and critically understand the flight. However, over-emphasizing the traumatic flight raises other ethical concerns. Through critical examinations, scholars have identified the risks of “showing just one highly traumatic part of a refugee’s lived experience” (Darragh and Kelley 21). The first and most identified risk of centering a narrative around the refugee flight is that it, regardless of the intention, creates a distinction between the privileged “us” and the “refugee other,” who had to flee from their war-torn homeland to seek refuge in the safe Western countries (e.g., Tomsic and Deery; Vassiloudi; Darragh and Kelley; Pesonen; Hope; Warnqvist; Duckels and Jaques; Ward and Warren). Such trauma-centered representations of the refugee experience offer little to no 13 background knowledge of the crisis, making associations of refugees’ home countries with dominantly negative attributes, such as conflicts, violence, poverty and anarchy (Strekalova-Hughes; Duckels and Jaques; Darragh and Kelley; Hope). Furthermore, this biased “knowing” of others from far away (Ahmed 49–68), although often unintended, can perpetuate notions of ethnocentrism and patriotism among Western readers (Pesonen 2; Vassiloudi; Darragh and Kelley), as the West is often presented as the “safe haven” generously lending “helping hands” because of its virtue and values (Hope, “Applying RefugeeCrit” 192). The take-away of these trauma-centered stories for Western child readers, along with empathy towards the refugees, might inadvertently become to appreciate their own circumstances, because of the dichotomy between “the weak other” and “the powerful [white] saviour” created in such stories (Vassiloudi; Hope; Strekalova-Hughes). Another risk of a trauma-centered narrative is that the traumatic flight overshadows the political, social, and historical reasons behind the forced flight (Strekalova-Hughes; Vassiloudi; Hope). Adrienne Kertzer notes that one of the concerns regarding trauma representation in children’s literature is that “being moved by traumatic accounts does not necessarily help children to understand the history that leads to such suffering” (411). This point is echoed by other scholars. Drawing on Slavoj Žižek’s concept of Absolute Evil (emphasis in original) and Lauren Berlant’s concept of infantile citizenship, Kenneth Kidd argues that children’s books conforming to “a thematic of absolute evil and absolute innocence” reject critical inspections from historical perspectives on social justice issues (“Freud in Oz" 203). Similarly, in many refugee flight stories, the reasons for the forced flee are typically portrayed as persecution, war, or violence, while “the deeper reasons behind refugee flight are mostly veiled as institutionally irrelevant” (Strekalova-Hughes 31; Vassiloudi). These books, 14 while portraying war and violence, do not offer opportunities for critical engagement with “the specific political, social and historical factors that are involved in these experiences of forced movement” (Tomsic and Deery 52). In relation to the hegemonic “forced-to-flee” (Strekalova-Hughes 23) formula in children’s picture books that intend to invoke empathy, scholars have specially underlined the distinction between empathy and “permissive empathy” (Pupavac 19), including Pupavac, Vassiloudi, Darragh and Kelley, and Hope. Debra Dudek’s concept of ethics of care holds relevance to this discussion. According to Dudek, the ethics of care denotes that care is not merely a task of help but is also to be accompanied by compassion, respect, understanding, and sense of responsibility and equality (363–376). This perspective is also echoed by Philip Nel, adding that seeing refugees as purely humans, regardless of their nationalities, religions, races and other differences in their situations, is an important step to cultivate empathy and steer away from bigotry (358-359). In a similar vein, Julia Hope posits that refugees should be depicted through a wider lens of life facets as “ordinary people in extraordinary circumstances” (“One Day We Had to Run” 298) who possess a wealth of cultural and historical funds of knowledge, just like any non-refugee readers. Finally, in addition to the traumatic flight, the themes of hope and resilience are also widely featured in children’s picture books about refugees and discussed by scholars (e.g., Crawford and Roberts; Vassiloudi; Dolan; Darragh and Kelley). While the consensus is that “hope remains a necessity” (Crawford and Roberts 16), scholars have cautioned not to equate hope with the Western “safe haven” (Hope, “Applying RefugeeCrit” 192). To resist focusing only on patronization or traumatization of the refugee situation, numerous scholars have placed 15 particular emphasis on the importance of presenting positive refugee images that highlight their resilience (Hope, “Children’s Literature about Refugees” 157; Darragh and Kelley). However, the representation of resilience so far in children’s picture books is often restricted to a single formula. As pointed out by Strekalova-Hughes, resilience is predominantly depicted through the traumatic journey of flight (32-33). Refugees demonstrate remarkable resilience in making the journey to the new country, persevering through adversities posed by political and natural environments, as well as prolonged admission procedures (Dolan; Crawford and Roberts; Vassiloudi). Nonetheless, it is worth noting that the struggles do not end when refugees make it to the new country, as they continue to face challenges in the new country, encountering difficulties including but not limited to language barriers, racism, and cultural and identity crises (Hope, “Children’s Literature about Refugees”). Besides navigating life in a completely new country, refugees often experience disorientation, loneliness and a sense of loss, especially if they were forced to leave at short notice (Hope, “Children’s Literature about Refugees” 9; Dolan). All these challenges and adaptations refugees have to deal with in the new country require resilience and equally deserve to be represented as much as the traumatic flight. Although “the life beyond” has enormous potential for showcasing resilience of the refugees, there are comparatively scarce refugee picture books that provide sufficient information for life before or after the perilous journey (Ward and Warren; Darragh and Kelley). In light of the current prevalence of trauma-centered storytelling in children's picture books focusing on child refugees, along with a lack of representation regarding life beyond traumatic experiences, I analyze three recently published Canadian picture books to look for broader representations of the refugee child’s experience. I will specifically focus on the narrative 16 strategies, giving consideration to both words and images, that produce representations of the child refugee experience beyond the “wounded child” (Kidd, “‘A’ is for Auschwitz” 126) and traumatic flight that potentially include the complex social and political context that compelled the flight, and the portrayal of agency, resilience and productivity after the traumatic flight. 2.4 Children’s Literature of Atrocity The stereotyping of refugees as traumatized victims and the focus on traumatic experiences in children’s picture books can be understood within a broader literature of what Elizabeth Baer calls “children’s literature of atrocity” (382). This section surveys the core aspects of “children’s literature of atrocity” (Kidd, “‘A’ is for Auschwitz” 120), including its emergence, the “wounded child” trope (Kidd, “‘A’ is for Auschwitz” 126), and the construal of childhood. Children’s literature, it can be argued, has a long history of depicting traumatic themes, from century-old fairytales that feature violence, death and other life-threatening situations to modern realistic stories about social justice issues such as racism and class inequality (Kidd, “Freud in Oz” 182). Although the portrayal of traumatic themes is not novel in children’s literature, according to Kenneth Kidd, “what is new is the atrocity part, as well as the emphasis on experiences of pain and suffering on the part of principal characters” (“Freud in Oz” 182). Lawrence Langer first introduced the idea of literature of atrocity, whose purpose is by “present[ing] the atmosphere or landscape of atrocity, to make it compelling, to coax the reader into credulity—and ultimately, complicity” (Langer 22). Langer’s definition of literature of atrocity was adapted by Elizabeth Baer to describe children’s literature that accentuates characters’ traumatic suffering and its aftermath (380). Based on her work on children’s literature about Holocaust, Baer advocates for the necessity of 17 “children’s literature of atrocity” (382). According to Baer, quality children’s books addressing trauma should directly engage with the traumatic event while offering adequate scaffolding for children through a “proper context of complexity” and “a framework for response,” which in turn fosters “a sense of personal responsibility” regarding social justice issues (384-385). Both Langer and Baer’s conceptualization of “literature of atrocity” (Langer 1)/ “children’s literature of atrocity” (Baer 382) denotes the direct confrontation of traumatic events in service of promoting consciousness, moral choices, and personal responsibility (Baer 391). It is observed that over the past couple of decades, particularly in the wake of events such as the Holocaust and 9/11, there has been a growing tendency towards exposing children to traumatic content through reading. Instead of being shielded from trauma, these days, children are almost expected to be exposed to it through reading in order to comprehend or to get prepared for it (Kidd, “‘A’ is for Auschwitz” 120). The inclination of emphasizing trauma in contemporary children’s literature is also observed by Eric Tribunella, who points out that trauma in children’s literature is used as a means of discipline, with the agenda “to encourage or compel the child to move toward or attain maturation” (xiv). Tribunella further notes that the “contrived traumatization of children” serves to create “subjection, community and national membership, maturation, and thus adult citizenship” (xv). It could be inferred from Tribunella’s arguments that the portrayal of trauma in children’s literature is often privatized as a personal journey of maturation, denoting the acquisition of adult citizenship. Nonetheless, whether the purpose of trauma exposure through children’s literature being empathy education or civic discipline or both, it seems the consensus is that children’s literature seems to be “the most rather than the least appropriate forum for trauma work” (Kidd, “‘A’ is for Auschwitz” 120). 18 Within the study of “children’s literature of atrocity” (Kidd, “‘A’ is for Auschwitz” 120), scholars have identified two archetypes of the child image — “the ultimate victim[s] of trauma” (Smith 116) or “the wounded child” (Kidd, “‘A’ is for Auschwitz” 120) and “the survivor[s] of trauma” (Smith 116). Katharine Smith explains these two archetypes: Because children are imagined as innocent, they are figured almost iconographically as the ultimate victims of trauma, those who require above all else adult protection and guidance…Alternatively, because children are imagined as innocent, they are also figured as the survivors of trauma, those who can offer adults spiritual advice in how to triumph over pain through simple, honest, essential values like love, trust, hope, and perseverance. (116) Kenneth Kidd associates “the wounded child” trope in children’s literature with Freudian psychoanalysis, which has played a significant role in constructing “the wounded child” into “a sentimental figure” (“‘A’ is for Auschwitz” 128). The sentimentality and vulnerability attached to “the wounded child” image (Kidd, “‘A’ is for Auschwitz” 120) connote the psychological transformation of children from “economically useful” to “emotionally priceless” around the turn of the 20th century (Pace 238; Tribunella xxvi). Kidd further notes that the Freudian wounded child archetype has a prominent expression of “wounded-but-resilient” child in “children’s literature of atrocity”, especially in the genre of fairy tale, where “structures and motifs allow both the exploration and containment of trauma” (“Freud in Oz” 188). This “traumatized but resilient child” configuration (Kidd, “Freud in Oz” 186) mirrors what Smith categorizes as “the survivor[s] of trauma” (116). Although these two archetypes of children experiencing trauma may appear diametrically opposed, the sentiment behind the dualistic depictions has its roots in the same adult mediation 19 of the construal of children and childhood as innocent (Smith; Kidd). Kidd (Kidd, “‘A’ is for Auschwitz” 138) employs Berlant’s notion of “infantile citizenship” (1-2) to elucidate the transference of adult anxieties onto the construction of childhood. By devising stories where “the wounded child” (Kidd, “‘A’ is for Auschwitz” 126) either receives help from adults or overcomes the trauma through their own merits, adults rest assured about “the damage that trauma can do to the ‘innocent’ child [emphasis added]” (Smith 116). Stories employing “the wounded child” trope (Kidd, “‘A’ is for Auschwitz” 126) present adverse experiences with an emphasis on trauma or the need for protection, with the child protagonist assuming a position of victimhood and/or vulnerability. “The wounded child” trope (Kidd, “‘A’ is for Auschwitz” 126) finds its resonance in the depiction of traumatized child refugees in many children’s books about refugees. Both essentially convey a message of otherness and power hierarchy. Due to the implicit connection between trauma representation of children and the representation of refugee children in children’s literature, this study, when examining refugee experience representations, gives specific attention to trauma representations of child refugee protagonists in selected picture books. 2.5 The Word-Image Relationship in Picture Books As mentioned above, psychoanalysis and literature are often intertwined (Kidd, “‘A’ is for Auschwitz” 121). Influenced by Freudian psychoanalysis theory, literary trauma scholars, mostly prominently Cathy Caruth, perceive traumatic experience “as a fixed and timeless photographic negative stored in an unlocatable place of the brain” (Balaev 151). The emphasis on the “visual nature of traumatic memory” (Kertzer 410) suggests that visual media may hold an advantage in 20 portraying trauma compared to conventional written texts in the literary domain. Additionally, this implies that literary forms that emphasize visual elements are particularly apt for representing trauma, thus establishing the picture book as a unique and powerful form for trauma representation. Perry Nodelman describes picture books as “books intended for young children which communicate information or tell stories through a series of many pictures combined with relatively slight texts or no texts at all” (vii). Nodelman’s definition of picture books stresses the visual elements, referring them as “illustrations” (emphasis in original), for the images in picture books serve an indispensable role of “explain[ing] or clarify[ing] words and each other”: Rather than invite viewers to make imaginative guesses about the story it implies, a picture in a picture book confirms and makes more specific a story that is already implied by the context of previous and subsequent pictures and also at least partially told in an accompanying text. (viii) According to Nodelman, one of the major distinctions of picture book from other forms of literature is that “the pictures in picture books take up most of the space and bear the burden of conveying most of the information” (viii). Correspondingly, the texts are “characteristically succinct and undetailed” and are “always dependent upon the accompanying pictures for their specific meaning and import” (Nodelman viii). Though pictures take center stage, Nodelman’s exposition on words and images in picture books suggests the interplay between words and images. In fact, children’s literature scholars have long recognized the “complex relationship between words and images” (Kertzer 410). The consensus (e.g. Bader; Nodelman; Kiefer; Nikolajeva and Scott; Lewis) is that “the words and 21 pictures in picture books both define and amplify each other, neither is open-ended as either would be on its own” (Nodelman viii). The word-image relationship is further explained in How Picturebooks Work, where Nikolajeva and Scott conclude that picturebooks communicate through “two separate sets of signs, the iconic and the conventional” (1). In picture books, pictures are the iconic signs, “where the sign is a direct representation of its signified,” while words are conventional signs “based on an agreement among the bearers of a particular language, both the spoken language and communications, such as gestures, dress code, or emblems” (Nikolajeva and Scott 1). Nikolajeva and Scott also note how these two sets of signs make picture book a form of infinite potential for meaning making: The function of pictures, iconic signs, is to describe or represent. The function of words, conventional signs, is primarily to narrate. Conventional signs are often linear, while iconic signs are nonlinear and do not give us direct instruction about how to read them. The tension between the two functions creates unlimited possibilities for interaction between word and image in a picturebook. (1-2) Furthermore, Nikolajeva and Scott have explicated the word-image relationship into five categories, with the two most representative categories being “complementation” and “counterpoint” (6-7). The concept of complementation is used to describe the word-image relationship, where “images reflect and expand what is in the written text or [where] each fills the other’s gaps” (Salisbury and Styles 92). In contrast, counterpoint refers to instances when “words and images provide different stories and provide alternative information or contradict each other in some way’” (Nikolajeva and Scott 17). 22 Because the form of the picture book consists of interconnected words and images that synergistically form a cohesive whole, reading a picture book often requires readers to move back and forth between the iconic signs and the conventional signs (Lewis 33). Recognizing the interdependent relationship of words and images in picture books, Nikolajeva and Scott propose that hermeneutic analysis could be particularly appropriate for approaching picture books because it views the subject matter as a holistic entity while shuttling between the whole and the details for a more comprehensive understanding (2). In a similar vein, this study will adopt a comparable approach to analyzing the selected picture books. My close reading analysis involves moving between iconic and conventional signs based on the understanding that words and images are “inter-related strands that add[s] up to more than a mere accumulation of individual parts” (Lewis 33). Connecting back to Nodelman’s definition of picture book at the beginning of this section, wordless picture books land on the extreme side of the word-image relationship, as they are purely pictures or with only single words (e.g. exhibit book or picture dictionary) (Nikolajeva and Scott 9). While picture dictionaries are very much straightforward, wordless picture narratives are exceptionally intricate, requiring readers to verbalize the story (Nikolajeva and Scott; Salisbury and Styles). However, it is precisely because of the freedom of readers creating their own texts for the image that wordless picture books enjoy the benefits of transcending linguistic boundaries and “being universally readable” (Salisbury and Styles 98), making them a unique medium for communicating intricate ideas. In fact, many exemplars within this form showcase a high level of complexity and sophistication, grappling with serious issues (Salisbury and Styles 98). 23 2.6 Conclusion As explained in section 2.2, the refugee image in popular conception, is often portrayed as traumatized, which casts refugees in a passive role of “dependency and powerlessness” (Kisiara 163). This prevailing image of the traumatized refugee is mirrored in children’s picture books to a significant degree, where the emphasis is given to the perilous journey fleeing from the unsafe homeland to a safe new country in the West. Children’s literature scholars have identified the problems of trauma-centered refugee storytelling (Strekalova-Hughes; Ward and Warren; Darragh and Kelley; Hope) in the following ways: 1. Othering of the refugees: the over-emphasis on the traumatic experience of the flight creates a divide in identities based on the refugee status, risking othering of the refugees and reinforcing power hierarchy. 2. Negligence of the socio-political factors: due to the prevalent portrayal of war and violence in refugee flight narratives, the impetus for forced migration can be simplistically construed as solely stemming from warfare or immediate life-threatening conditions at a superficial level. However, the intricate interplay of social, historical, and political factors that underlie the genesis of conflict and violence often goes unexplored or is understated in these narratives. This shortfall impedes a nuanced and critical examination of social justice issues (Strekalova-Hughes 26-29). 3. Permissive empathy: trauma-centered storytelling might unintentionally elicit among readers “permissive empathy” (Pupavac 19), a form of empathy that tends to patronize the depicted subject as the “weak other” (Hope, “Applying RefugeeCrit” 194). As a result, the cultivation of a more desirable empathy rooted in a critical comprehension of 24 others’ experiences, as emphasized by Julia Hope, Debra Dudek and Philip Nel, becomes impeded. 4. Partial portrayal of resilience: the portrayal of resilience is restricted to a single manifestation of perseverance amidst hostile political and/or natural environment (Strekalova-Hughes 23-38), while lives beyond the flight where refugees continue demonstrating resilience in the face of challenges and adaptations in the new country have not yet received adequate representation. The prominence of traumatic experience depiction in children’s picture books on refugees leads to an implicit association between the representation of child refugee experiences and the representation of trauma in children’s literature, which is often mediated by adults’ construal of children and childhood as innocent. The “wounded child” trope (Kidd, “‘A’ is for Auschwitz” 126) emerges prominently in such mediation, depicting children in a position of traumatized victimhood. Finally, due to the conceptualization of traumatic memories as pictorial (Caruth 4), the picture book form, encompassing two sets of signs—iconic (images) and conventional (texts), is deemed as a unique and powerful form for trauma representation. As implied by the term picture book, the meaning conveyed in picture books depends on the interrelation between words and images. The word-image relationship, and the narrative strategies underlying both in a picture book, are fundamental to its comprehension and interpretation, necessitating readers to shuttle between two sets of signs while simultaneously perceiving them as a unified whole. Within the picture book form, wordless picture books are highly unique narratives that entirely comprise pictures, which transcend linguistic confines and enjoy universal readability, yet challenge readers to create their own texts. 25 Taking the above points into account, this study seeks to identify and analyze three recent Canadian picture books that in some ways broaden the representation of the refugee experience beyond the traumatic flight, while also connecting them with the broader realm of “children’s literature of atrocity” (Kidd, “‘A’ is for Auschwitz” 120). 26 Chapter 3: Methodology 3.1 Introduction This study undertakes a close reading for the analysis of the following picture books, The Doll (2021) by Nhung N. Tran-Davies (author) and Ravy Puth (illustrator), Salma the Syrian Chef (2020) by Danny Ramadan (author) and Anna Bron (illustrator) and The Paper Boat (2020) by Thao Lam, taking into account both their written and visual representations. The first section elaborates the rationale for selecting these picture books as the subjects of analysis for this study, which considers factors such as literary form, year and country of publication, awards, and topic matter. In the second section, I provide an introduction to the theoretical framework—RefugeeCrit (Strekalova-Hughes), which serves as a guide for the close reading of the book content. Particularly, in recognition of the visual affordances of the picture book form, I incorporate the reading of the images into the close reading of the selected picture books. Lastly, I attach a list of significant terms, along with explanations, that are used in the book analysis. 3.2 Text Selection Rationale Three recently published Canadian picture books, The Doll (2021) by Nhung N. Tran-Davies (author) and Ravy Puth (illustrator), Salma the Syrian Chef (2020) by Danny Ramadan (author) and Anna Bron (illustrator) and The Paper Boat (2020) by Thao Lam, are selected for this study. The text selection rationale considers the following four factors: 1. The picture book form: There is an abundance of children's literature that explores refugee representation and the refugee experience. Nevertheless, my intention is to 27 concentrate on the picture book format for this study, because this specific form encompasses intricacies and affordances that are exceptionally well-suited for the discussion of critical matters concerning children. In The Routledge Companion to Picturebooks, Nathalie op de Beeck proposes: a picturebook interpellates a young audience and advances notions of what is and is not childlike. A picturebook constructs an implied reader – the innocent or irrelevant child, or the middle-class Anglo-American child – and excludes an implied Other. (20) It could be inferred that the picture book form itself embodies the discussion of the construction of children and childhood, as well as the power dynamics between the marginalized others and the hegemonic social group. Furthermore, the picture book form’s multimodality, particularly its visual affordances, is widely acknowledged for its effectiveness in conveying the “unspeakable” (Baer 381-382; Duckels and Jaques), which in this instance pertains to the trauma associated with the refugee experience. Therefore, I consider the picture book form to be particularly appropriate for this study, which aims to examine refugee children’s experiences in literature representation. 2. Publication specificities: Canada has a notable track record of embracing refugees and offering humanitarian assistance, cementing its advantage in immigration and refugee studies. There is a considerable abundance of local picture books that portray the experiences of refugees. Additionally, living in Vancouver, Canada provides me with relatively easy access to Canadian picture books. For this study, I have therefore chosen to focus exclusively on Canadian picture books. I have further refined the range of publication years to the most recent three years, as there is potential for criticism in newly 28 published picture books. 3. Awards and Recognition: I select picture books that have received recommendations from esteemed institutions in the field of children's literature, including recognized awards, libraries, schools, and reputable publishers and media. These entities, to a significant degree, exert an influence on the trajectory of the publication and consumption of children’s literature. Therefore, I believe it is imperative to conduct a critical examination of the picture books that are deemed as exemplars by these authorities, given that these acclaimed books hold substantial potential to impact a wide range of children. 4. Topic matter: As stated in the introduction, my focus and passion revolve around trauma and resilience in children. Thus, I commenced my study with a corpus of picture books that encompass both themes. Nevertheless, my examination of the literature indicates that picture books addressing refugee trauma tend to follow a formulaic approach, with a significant portion of the content dedicated to explicitly depicting the traumatic flight. With the goal of challenging the “single story” (Adichie) in the representation of refugee experiences, I seek to explore picture books that depict trauma in a manner that deviates from the dominant trauma narrative, instead focusing on the resilience of refugees. 3.3 Theoretical Framework and Method for the Analysis of Primary Texts This study engages with the method of close reading to analyze the selected three picture books. To critically examine the representation of refugee experiences depicted in these picture books, I apply the refugee critical race theory (RefugeeCrit) framework, pioneered by Ekaterina Strekalova-Hughes, to the close reading analyses. 29 With the aim of “forefront[ing] refugee voices” (Strekalova-Hughes et al., “Refugee Critical Race Theory in Education”) in shaping the portrayal of refugees in children’s literature, RefugeeCrit amalgamates concepts from both refugee studies and critical race theory (CRT), with a specific focus on its application within the realm of children's literature (Strekalova-Hughes; Hope). Drawing inspiration from CRT, particularly Jones Brayboy and Bryan McKinley’s research on tribal critical race theory, RefugeeCrit embraces similar tenets. Those pertinent to children’s picture book studies include: 1. Colonial, imperial, and racist mentalities are endemic in the global society and contribute to refugee flight; 2. Legal refugee status and economic resettlement policies function as a mechanism of oppression and subordination; 3. Need for agential voices and counter-narrative as colonial, imperial, and racist mentalities legally and economically attempt to chain refugee narratives and stories to their protective status and label; 4. Social construction of race intersects with legal refugee status and geographic spaces; 5. Intersectionality shapes the experiences of refugees at each social context and border crossing; and 6. Anti-essentialism is critical for understanding refugee experiences and complex identities. (Strekalova-Hughes 25) With these guiding tenets, RefugeeCrit provides a focused analysis of representations and assumptions pertaining to children from refugee backgrounds, while considering the global contextual mindsets that apply to them (Strekalova-Hughes 23-38). 30 Distilling above tenets of RefugeeCrit, this study specifically investigates the representation of refugees and their experiences, with a particular emphasis on how they are represented in relation to the West. This analysis will particularly emphasize the identification of colonial and racial mentalities, as well as the agency and abilities of refugee individuals. Given the prevailing representations of the traumatic flight in children’s picture books and their relevance to the broader context of “children’s literature of atrocity” (Kidd, “‘A’ is for Auschwitz” 120), this study will expand its analysis to include the representation of trauma in selected picture books, in addition to the aspects already covered by RefugeeCrit. Each picture book will be individually analyzed to ensure reading consistency, and each analysis will be structured into three sections to address the research questions outlined in the introduction. First, I will assess the representation of trauma and the portrayal of the child protagonist in the context of trauma, encompassing questions such as, how is trauma depicted in these books? How is the child protagonist depicted in the face of trauma? How does the book represent the child refugee protagonists and their lives? In what ways do the selected picture books conform to or deviate from the predominant refugee flight narrative and “the wounded child” trope (Kidd, “‘A’ is for Auschwitz” 126) in children’s picture books? Second, I explore how refugees and the West are depicted in each story, specifically exploring how the relationship between them is portrayed, with a focus on the representation of refugee persons’ agency and resilience. Last, I will examine the reasons behind the refugee flight and evaluate how the narrative unfolds in depicting and addressing the factors that compelled the flight. Given the multimodality inherent in the picture book form, in addition to content analysis, the close reading of the selected picture books will also take into account the word and image 31 relationship, integrating the reading of the images. As an example, I will analyze various aspects of the illustrations, including the style of illustration, the use of colors, the sequencing of images, and other prominent artistic techniques. Additionally, if applicable, I will also examine the linguistic choices made in the texts, such as the use of literary devices and the tone of language. 3.4 Significant Terms This section includes significant terms used in the book analysis. The terms are presented in the sequential order of color theory, picture book studies, and literary devices. Color palette or color scheme: In color theory, a color palette or color scheme refers to the selection of colors utilized for artistic coloring purposes. Tone/ Value: When discussing colors, the concept of "tone" or "value" denotes the degree of lightness or darkness. As an illustration, the addition of black pigment creates darker value, also known as low value, whereas the addition of white pigment yields a lighter value, commonly referred to as high value (Duffy, “Hue, Value, and Saturation”). Spread: To put it simply, according to children’s picture book author Alison Hughes, a spread refers to “an illustration that spans two open pages in a picture book” (“Picture Books 101”). Endpapers: In The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Publishing Children’s Books, Harold Underdown defines endpapers as “the sheets of paper in a hardcover book that attach the cover to the pages.” Endpapers can be “plain colored paper or have a design or illustration” (Glossary). 32 Symbolism/ Symbol: According to Bernard Dupriez’s A Dictionary of Literary Devices: Gradus, A-Z, symbols are texts that authors assign meanings to within the framework of a more general signifier. Symbolism in literature encompasses substituting one signifier with another, thereby establishing symbolic associations between the corresponding signifieds. The interpretation of a symbol is contingent upon the reader, while the function of the symbol itself relies on the author and necessitates the perception by the reader (441-444). 33 Chapter 4: Findings: The Doll, Salma the Syrian Chef, and The Paper Boat 4.1 Introduction In this chapter, I offer my analyses of the selected three Canadian picture books published within the last three years, The Doll (2021) by Nhung N. Tran-Davies (author) and Ravy Puth (illustrator), Salma the Syrian Chef (2020) by Danny Ramadan (author) and Anna Bron (illustrator), and The Paper Boat (2020) by Thao Lam, applying RefugeeCrit. This chapter is organized into three sections, with each section respectively analyzing The Doll (2021), Salma the Syrian Chef (2020) and The Paper Boat (2020). Within each section, the analysis is further divided into five sub-sections. These sub-sections provide an overview of the picture book and its illustration style, an examination of how trauma and the child protagonist are represented, an investigation into the portrayal of refugees and the West, an evaluation of the reasons presented for the refugee flight, and finally, a brief summary. As outlined in the literature review, children’s picture books about refugees often heavily emphasize the traumatic flight experienced by refugees. To contextualize the representation of child refugees within the broader study of trauma in children’s literature it is important to note that when examining the representation of trauma and the child protagonist in the presence of trauma, the primary focus is often directed towards the child figure and their association with “the wounded child” trope (Kidd, “‘A’ is for Auschwitz” 126). The RefugeeCrit framework, which posits that “imperialism, colonialism, and racism are endemic to society, contribute to refugee flight, and reveal themselves in legal and economic mechanisms that influence life experiences of children and families from refugee backgrounds” (Strekalova-Hughes, et al., “Legally Scripted Fictions” 15), allows for analyses that extend the scope. This extension 34 includes an examination of the refugee community when investigating the representations of the refugees and the West, as well as the reasons underlying refugee flight. 4.2 The Doll 4.2.1 Book Overview and Illustration Style The Doll (2021) by Vietnamese Canadian author Nhung Tran-Davies and Canadian born Cambodian-Chinese illustrator Ravy Puth, was nominated in 2022 for The Blue Spruce Award, which celebrates recently published Canadian children’s picture books most loved by school-aged children in Canada (CBC Books, “2022 Blue Spruce Award Finalists”). The story narrates the author Tran-Davies’ real-life experience of coming to Canada on a boat to escape the war in Vietnam in the 1970s. The story begins with a welcoming reception of the Tran-Davies’ family at the airport, where the young protagonist is gifted with a doll as a symbol of hospitality. With the exception of one spread depicting the refugee flight, the remainder of the narrative takes place after the protagonist’s arrival in Canada, where she is welcomed by charitable Canadians and ultimately becomes a doctor. The story’s conclusion echoes its beginning, as the protagonist, now grown-up, greets a Syrian refugee family with a doll upon their arrival at the airport. The Doll’s illustrations effectively complement the text by providing visual cues that explain the verbal description. The predominant color scheme featured in the story is warm-toned, with a significant use of soft red and brown shades, except for the refugee flight spread, which utilizes primarily cool-toned blue and varying shades of grey. Symbolism is a prominent feature of The Doll, with the gifted doll symbolizing kindness and recurring throughout the story in both verbal and visual forms. With the repetition of the symbol 35 through explicit verbal and visual expressions, the story makes clear its moral of extending kindness to people in need. Book reviews and author’s interviews have observed this moral, describing the story as “a touching, full-circle journey about the lasting impact of kindness” (Kirkus; CBC; CBC Books). 4.2.2 Trauma Representation and The Child Protagonist Portrayal In the scene of the traumatic flight, refugees are portrayed as suffering and helpless. A two-page spread situated five pages into the story showcases a heart-wrenching flight scene, illustrating a tumultuous ocean with violent torrents and winds that pluck away food and clothing from refugees aboard an over-crowded fishing boat. In contrast to the warm tones employed to depict post-flight life in Canada, this spread features a gray film that mutes an otherwise consistent color palette. Refugees on the boat are portrayed in dull and tattered clothing, with their facial expressions conveying weariness and terror as they struggle to hold onto their meager possessions. In addition, the illustration on this spread explicitly portrays how the children are subjected to the traumatic flight, with some assuming a curled-up position, some shedding tears, some experiencing nausea, and some helping the adults hold onto essential life-saving items. Through these graphic depictions of their pain, child refugees are portrayed as the “ultimate victims of trauma” (Smith 116) who are in desperate need of rescue. 36 Figure 1 Tran-Davies, N. and Puth, R. (2021). The Traumatic Flight in The Doll. The Doll. [picture book]. Toronto, Canada: Second Story Press. Despite the majority of the narrative occurring in the new country, the sole spread in The Doll depicting the refugee flight adheres to the dominant trauma-centered narrative in children’s picture books about refugees, where arguably trauma is overtly illustrated as a means to elicit empathy (Tomsic and Deery; Strekalova-Hughes; Darragh and Kelley; Hope). Although compared to the traditional trauma-centered narratives, where the traumatic flight takes the central place of the story, The Doll does not include an extensive amount of trauma depiction throughout the book. However, the words and illustrations in the aforementioned spread appear to employ trauma as a means to potentially garner empathy. The spread communicates the urgency of the refugees’ plight and the pressing need for assistance through vivid illustrations of their woes and sufferings, along with sentimental prose, despite its brevity. 37 4.2.3 Refugee Representation and the Image of the West Studying visual representations in children’s picture books about refugees, Gabriel Duckels and Zoe Jaques observe that: The aesthetic decisions taken by authors in the pursuit of [refugee] representation, however, open up broader ethical concerns regarding the depiction of race and inequality in these twin narratives of affirmation and lamentation. (129) The illustrations and textual descriptions in The Doll distinguish between the "boat people" (Tran-Davies) and white Westerners, highlighting the racial and situational differences. Tran-Davies uses highly sentimental and poetic language to describe the suffering of the refugees. Refugees are described as “people with nowhere left and nothing to bring, desperate and scared” and the child protagonist’s “lips quivered and knees trembled” (Tran-Davies). The portrayal of refugees by Tran-Davies significantly corresponds with the stereotypical image of refugees being helpless and dependent (Kisiara 163). In contrast with “the weak other” from far away (Vassiloudi 40) is “the powerful [white] saviour” (Hope, “Applying RefugeeCrit” 190; Vassiloudi; Strekalova-Hughes). The young girl who gifts The Doll to the protagonist is illustrated with blonde hair and deep-ocean blue eyes, with “dimples twinkled like bright mischievous stars” (Tran-Davies). Even the gifted doll’s features are stereotypically white, “with curls cinnamon and wild, lips sweet and rosy” and bright blue eyes (Tran-Davies). Moreover, individuals depicted as seeking relief, including the boat people and Syrian refugees shown on TV, as well as the protagonist’s patient, are all people of color, thereby reinforcing the negative association between people of color and helplessness and dependency. The distinct verbal and visual descriptions of the refugees and the Western people in The Doll, 38 regardless of intention, amplify the racial and situational differences between these two groups, implying an unequal power relationship based on racial and the legal refugee status. What further complicates the racial and colonial undertone of the story is the overly romanticized resolution of the refugee suffering. Upon the reception of The Doll, which is a symbol for the Western philanthropy, the refugee child immediately feels that “she was welcome…was home” (Tran-Davies; Kirkus). The resolution’s apparent simplicity raises ethical concerns because it implies that refugee suffering terminates upon their arrival in the West and that acceptance is a given. However, the real-life refugee experience subsequent to the arrival in the new country is frequently antithetical to this idealized depiction, with refugees persisting to endure physical and health conditions, racism, discrimination, and financial instabilities (Triantafyllou et al. 231). What’s more, concluding the refugee flight with a gifted doll substitutes the refugee person’s agency and resilience for a safety shelter provided by the West. Such representation not only trivializes the suffering of the refugees but also romanticizes the West as purely virtuous, while disregarding “the colonial, imperial, and racist mentalities that are endemic in the global society and contribute to refugee flight” (Strekalova-Hughes 25). Tran-Davies further reinforces the power hierarchy between the West and the refugees by explicitly expressing her gratitude towards the girl who gifted her The Doll. Terms such as kindness and welcome repeatedly appear throughout the story. For instance, there is a spread (Tran-Davies) where the grown-up protagonist bursts into tears watching news about Syrian refugees on TV. Positioned at the bottom left is a picture that captures the friendship between the white girl and the child protagonist, while the gifted doll is prominently displayed on the upper right shelf. Just below the doll, an explicit moral concludes this very sentimental page: 39 All that you have, and all that you have become are because of an act of kindness. A moment in time. (Tran-Davies) Again, attributing the protagonist’s progress and success solely to Western philanthropy results in a portrayal of refugees as having less agency and resilience and reinforces the image of a power imbalance between the West and the refugees. Figure 2 Tran-Davies, N. and Puth, R. (2021). Watching the Syrian refugees on TV. The Doll. [picture book]. Toronto, Canada: Second Story Press. This spread also signifies a shift in the protagonist’s role from “the weak other” to the Western “helping hands” (Hope, “Applying RefugeeCrit” 194). The following pages start a new welcome-refugee story, which mirrors the beginning of the story both textually and visually, only with a flipped role for the protagonist. This transformation of the protagonist’s role signifies the change of the legal status from a refugee child to a Canadian adult citizen who embodies 40 Canadian values and privileges, reassuring both the adult and child readers with a happy ending of becoming a model Canadian citizen. Aligned with Lauren Berlant’s theory of infantile citizenship, which challenges the prevalent nationally mediated patriotism portrayed in popular media, one could argue that the narrative strategy of The Doll underscores a didactic and indoctrinating undertone. In this context, the trauma experienced by refugees is leveraged to fortify a sense of belonging within the Canadian community and promote “national membership”, ultimately contributing to the shaping of “adult citizenship” (Tribunella xv). In addition, the author’s note page shows a picture of the original doll, with the caption “Nhung’s doll, on display at the Canadian Museum of Immigration” (Tran-Davies). The pedestalization of The Doll, a symbol of the Canadian value of kindness, solidifies Tran-Davies’ story’s role in affirming Canadian values to its citizens. In The Doll, the traumatic past appears to be used to impart a moral message of kindness that integrates Canadian citizenship values. Yet, the colonial and socio-political circumstances that prompted the traumatic flight are ignored, thereby shifting the emphasis of the story from the refugee experience to Western philanthropy. Additionally, the majority of The Doll story happens after the refugees’ arrival in the new country, where the child protagonist grows up to be a robust and tall woman, becoming a doctor who helps to alleviate the pain of people (Tran-Davies). However, ethical concerns arise when the happily ever-after is emphasized without the necessary scaffolding of the refugee crisis. With the reassuring resolution of safety and success taking center stage, the traumatic flight arguably is relegated to a mere plot device for eliciting compassion towards “the weak other” (Hope, “Applying RefugeeCrit” 194). Leigh Gilmore and Elizabeth Marshall refer to this form of trauma representation in children’s literature as “strategically grim,” where bleak themes are included in a story to 41 facilitate the path towards redemption in adulthood (23). In The Doll’s case, the juxtaposition between a young refugee girl who “traveled far and suffered much and had so little” (emphasis added), and a successful medical practitioner who holds the capability to alleviate the suffering of others may reduce the traumatic flight to a personal journey toward transformation aided by benign Western saviors. This individualization of the refugee experience risks diminishing the gravity of the refugee experience and elides the historical and political context that led to the refugee crisis and suffering. 4.2.4 Reasons for the Refugee Flight Although through the illustrations, the protagonist’s race could be identified, throughout the story there is no specific geographic nor socio-political context for the refugee flight, with the traumatic flight portrayed solely as hostile natural environments and the reasons for the flight simply concluded as “the cruelty of war” (Tran-Davies). While in the author’s note, Tran-Davies does reveal the geographic origin of the refugee flight and the challenges refugees faced, including venturing into the wilderness and spending months in a camp, the reasons for the Vietnam war and the struggles of the refugees are not represented in the story. On the other hand, emphasis is given to the philanthropic assistance extended by the gracious white Albertan Catholics. 4.2.5 Conclusion By interlacing the story of refugee resettlement with the theme of kindness, The Doll shifts the attention from particular socio-political circumstances that forced the flight to a universal message of human empathy and compassion. The story depicts the traumatic flight in ways that 42 potentially elicit empathy but then emphasizes the post-flight life in the new country, where the protagonist’s achievements are entirely credited to Western philanthropy. Furthermore, both texts and images distinguish the racial and situational differences between the Western philanthropists and the refugees. The West is cast in a positive light, presenting itself as virtuous and welcoming towards refugees by offering resources and aid. Conversely, refugees are portrayed as helpless and powerless. The representation of the power dynamics between refugees and the West in such a manner fails to depict resilience and agency of the refugee persons in the face of trauma and in their efforts to start anew. Additionally, there is a potential for reducing the plight of refugees to a plot device, utilized largely for the purpose of eliciting “permissive empathy” (Pupavac 19), while failing to address the underlying causes of the refugee crisis. 4.3 Salma the Syrian Chef 4.3.1 Book Overview and Illustration Style Salma the Syrian Chef (2020) by Syrian Canadian author Danny Ramadan and Vancouver-based illustrator Anna Bron has been nominated for several awards, including the Nautilus Book Award and the School Library Journal Best Books of 2020 since its publication in 2020. The picture book follows the storyline of the young protagonist, Salma, preparing a traditional Syrian dish for her mother to ease her anxiety of adjusting to the new country with the help of people at the welcome center. Kirkus Review describes it as “[a] beautiful story [that] grasps diversity, exploring resilience, love, friendship, and the meaning of home” (“Salma the Syrian Chef”). The plot takes place in Vancouver, Canada, where Salma’s family resettles after leaving their home in Syria. Along with pangs of longing for her home and husband in Syria, Salma’s 43 mother is also grappling with managing job interviews and English classes. Sensing her mother’s worries, Salma decides to prepare foul shami, a traditional Syrian dish to lift her spirit. Despite some fumbles and imperfections, with the help of people from the welcome center and her own resource, Salma manages to cook the dish and cheer her mother up. The illustrations of Salma the Syrian Chef demonstrate a commitment to representing diversity. Most pages have frames that consist of intricate Arab styled patterns, which are common to Damascus tiles used for floor decoration in the Syrian region. Alongside the culturally appropriate representation of the original culture, there is also an attempt to represent an inclusive society in Canada in the illustrations. For instance, the subtle collage of traditional Syrian art and life in Canada depicts a harmonious relationship between the old and new country. Characters, both refugees and staff, featured in this picture book are of diverse backgrounds, including Egypt, India, Venezuela, Jordan, Lebanon, Somalia, Iran and Canada, portraying diversity and inclusiveness of races and cultures in Canada. Furthermore, the utilization of light watercolors, particularly blue, yellow, green and purple, generates a soft and comfortable ambiance. The artistic choices made for the illustrations reflect the authors' favorable perspective on Canada. The succeeding sections will expand on the optimistic portrayal of the new country. 4.3.2 Trauma Representation and The Child Protagonist Portrayal Similar to The Doll, Salma the Syrian Chef also focuses on the life after the traumatic flight. Nevertheless, instead of representing trauma as a plot device to ultimately convey a moral lesson, Salma the Syrian Chef does not include any details about the traumatic flight and portrayal of the conflict-ridden Syria. Instead, the trauma is implied in the aftermath by the father’s absence and the mother’s distress: 44 Mama won’t look up from her English homework…is busy calling Papa back in Syria…used to giggle with her friends in the refugee camp…now, after a long day of job interviews and English classes, Mama barely smiles when tucking Salma in. (Ramadan) Figure 3 Ramadan, D. & Bron, A. (2020). Distressed Mother. Salma the Syrian Chef. [picture book]. Toronto, Canada: Annick Press. The book portrays the mother as suffering from the aftermath of the forced migration, even resulting in a level of disengagement in parental responsibilities as she is preoccupied with adapting to new life herself and staying connected with relatives back in Syria. In contrast to the distressed adult, the child protagonist remains relatively unaffected by the forced migration despite witnessing the toll it takes on her parents. Instead, she undertakes the role of the “traumatized but resilient child” (Kidd, “Freud in Oz” 186) or “the survivor of trauma” who provides spiritual guidance for suffering adults (Smith 116). Salma attempts to brighten her mother’s day by preparing a traditional Syrian recipe and assuming the leadership of the cooking project. In both the texts and illustrations, Salma is actively engaged in harnessing 45 resources, which is demonstrated by her seeking assistance from the welcome center staff, utilizing her drawing skills and Arabic to figure out the ingredients for preparing the meal. Salma exhibits not only initiative in raising her mother’s spirits and organizing a cooking event, but also resilience and sagacity in coping with trauma through art. When drawing her home in Syria, Salma intentionally chooses to paint the living room wall in purple. This deliberate choice exemplifies her ability to employ affirmative imagination in preserving positive recollections of her homeland. Despite exhibiting coping abilities in the aftermath of forced migration, Salma appears to lack a comprehensive understanding of the complexity and gravity of the refugee situation. Her experience of trauma is exclusively personal, relating to the separation from her father and disconnection from the Syrian culture, which is made evident by textual descriptions such as [her] “heart aches like a tiny fire in her chest when she thinks of Papa”; “I’m mad that we had to leave home…I can’t find sumac or speak Arabic to everyone I know” (Ramadan). By focusing on the child protagonist’s resilience and omitting the traumatic flight from the plot, Salma the Syrian Chef disrupts the prevailing stereotypes of refugees as helpless and without agency. However, this representation could potentially trivialize the traumatic experiences of refugees and divert attention away from the root causes of their trauma. Gilmore and Marshall problematize the uplifting resilient child trope in children’s literature, drawing on Berlant’s infantile citizenship theory: One identifies with the infantile or adolescent person not to make an argument about the past, but to enter the suspended temporality of belonging that is always being negotiated through reading popular literature. (21) 46 The virtues of the child protagonist, such as resilience, abilities, optimism, love, and care, are the defining characteristics represented in Salma the Syrian Chef, resulting in the portrayal of a child protagonist who does not grapple with the social and political aspects of the cause of the refugee experience and the traumatic aftermath. 4.3.3 Refugee Representation and the Image of the West Although the book does not unpack the refugee crisis, it is worth acknowledging that the refugee persons’ agency and abilities are effectively highlighted in Salma the Syrian Chef. During the cooking activity, Salma demonstrates her leadership abilities while utilizing her cultural knowledge, such as Arabic language proficiency and drawing skills. Additionally, a sense of solidarity and comradeship is established among the refugees. For example, Ayesha walks Salma to the supermarket, and Malek and Amir chop the vegetables for Salma. Furthermore, the welcome center staff and refugees work together in a spirit of equality to promote teamwork and friendship, as evidenced by the staff and the children sharing knowledge about their respective cultural dishes and brainstorming ways to cheer up Salma’s mother. 47 Figure 4 Ramadan, D. & Bron, A. (2020). Children Sharing Cultural Dishes. Salma the Syrian Chef. [picture book]. Toronto, Canada: Annick Press. The homelands and cultures of refugee persons are also depicted in a positive light. Contrary to the typical portrayal of the refugees’ homeland as a place of violence and insecurity often found in children’s books about refugees, Salma’s recollection of her hometown, Damascus, is that it was vibrant and picturesque. Besides the protagonist’s own culture, readers are also offered a glimpse of the rich diversity of cultures of refugees through their traditional cuisines. The welcome center symbolizes Canadian institutional support for refugees. However, this Western “helping hand” (Hope, “Applying RefugeeCrit” 192) diverges from what is rendered in The Doll, as the staff at the welcome center are of diverse backgrounds and origins and their treatment of refugees exhibits a relationship based on equality. For instance, while Salma learns English, the staff also try to communicate in Arabic. This portrayal of the relationship between the refugee individuals and the new country in Salma the Syrian Chef to some extent contests the power hierarchy premised on race and first-world privileges. 48 Nevertheless, such a portrayal is still far from comprehensive. The welcome center in the story, much like in The Doll, is the only representation of the West and is depicted as completely helpful and caring. Challenges and hardships, except for the language barrier and job searching efforts, refugees typically experience in real life in a new country, such as financial instability, maladjustment, racism, discrimination, and alienation are not represented in Salma the Syrian Chef. Salma’s apartment appears to be a typical middle-class home, well-equipped and without any signs of financial hardship. Her interaction with the new country is also very limited and well-protected. Besides her mother, Salma only interacts with the people from the welcome center, and her cooking activity, including the grocery run, is also accompanied. 4.3.4 Reasons for the Refugee Flight Salma the Syrian Chef, just like The Doll, explicitly acknowledges the refugees’ geographic and ethnic origins and implies the trauma of war and conflict through the absence of the father and the mother’s adaptation struggles, yet it does not reveal the specific reasons behind their forced migration. The absence of information pertaining to the refugee crisis fails to seize the opportunity to address crucial social justice matters, including imperialism, racism, and global refugee policies. 4.3.5 Conclusion Salma the Syrian Chef differentiates itself from many other picture books about refugees by excluding any portrayal or mention of the traumatic flight; it solely concentrates on the life that follows the flight in the new country. The depiction of the post-flight life in Canada is achieved through a cooking activity, demonstrating the abilities and agency of the child protagonist and 49 the refugee persons. In contrast to The Doll and similar narratives that highlight Western philanthropy, Salma the Syrian Chef places a significant emphasis on equality and respect in the depiction of the interaction between refugees and the West. Regardless, the image of the West remains overwhelmingly positive, with the welcome center being the only representation depicted as supportive. Furthermore, without any reference to the Syrian refugee crisis, Salma the Syrian Chef’s emphasis on the post-flight life in Canada, while effective in highlighting the agency and abilities of refugees, comes at the cost of engaging critically with the refugee crisis and its underlying causes. 4.4 The Paper Boat 4.4.1 Book Overview and Illustration Style The Paper Boat (2020) is a wordless picture book authored by Vietnamese Canadian children’s literature author and illustrator Thao Lam. Published in 2020, The Paper Boat has been critically recognized by numerous children’s literature reviewers, including Kirkus, School Library Journal, Booklist and the Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books. The wordless picture book is a unique form where readers engage and make meaning purely through the images. Anne Rowe describes the relationship between the author and the readers of a wordless picture book as complementary because, with the absence of verbal description, the author directing the storytelling becomes invisible, prompting the readers to create the implied text to complete the meaning making (Salisbury and Styles 120). Therefore, the wordless form, along with the autobiographical style of The Paper Boat, enables its appeal to a diverse readership that transcends age boundaries. 50 In The Paper Boat, Lam uses her distinct art style of paper crafting and collaging to retell her family story of escaping the communist Vietnam after the Vietnam War in the 1970s. The story starts with a family gathering around the dining table, too worried to eat. Detecting the approaching of the Vietcong army, the family hastily packs valuables and runs away from their home. To evade the raid, the young protagonist and her mother must hide in the bushes after family members are scattered during the flight. While stranded in the wilderness, the child protagonist stumbles upon a group of ants and tracks them to a river, where a makeshift boat is waiting to assist their escape from the country. Following their arrival on the boat, the main characters of the narrative transition from the family to a collective of ants who embark on a perilous journey across the treacherous ocean, enduring extreme temperatures, seagull attacks, hunger, tempests, and sickness. As the ants make their way onto the land, the focus returns to the family of the protagonists, who once again gather around the dining table. By zooming out the lens, the illustration depicts the family’s arrival in a new country, where individuals from various backgrounds have found a place to call home. The color palette employed for The Paper Boat is predominantly cool-toned and deep, with black, white, and grey taking center stage. The story incorporates sporadic bright and warm colors, like orange, yellow, and pink, which are used to depict elements such as food, the sun, moonlight, and the paper boat. The utilization of contrasting color palettes has a symbolic function in the narrative, wherein dark, cool-toned hues depict the perilous environment and light, warm colors symbolize hope and security. 51 4.4.2 Trauma Representation and The Child Protagonist Portrayal The first half of the story depicts the protagonist’s family in distress and fear during the traumatic flight, with explicit visual depictions. As adults in the family hurriedly pack valuables into two small handbags, the child protagonist holds onto her mother with a worried and sad look. Not only observing distressed adults, the child also directly encounters the horror of the war, facing immediate danger herself in the story. This is most evident in a fleeing scene where she stumbles over a stone and instinctively curls into a protective position as Vietcong soldiers raid the surrounding bushes. The refugee flight is illustrated through a sequence of intense actions, including running, hiding, hunching, and shushing, in order to elude the Vietcong soldiers. The child’s portrayal in The Paper Boat highlights her resilience and resourcefulness, evident in her survival of the raid, use of the ants’ trail to find the escape boat, and the ability to withstand the challenging environments on the boat with her family. The Paper Boat diverges from the other two analyzed picture books and many other alike by presenting a more comprehensive depiction of forced migration. It encompasses life before, during, and after the traumatic flight, whereas the focus of the other two narratives lies predominantly on life after. While the narrative still primarily revolves around the traumatic flight, The Paper Boat showcases a different technique for illustrating it by employing ants as a symbol for refugees. In contrast to The Doll and its other comparable narratives, which directly depict the hardships endured by refugees during the flight, The Paper Boat presents the refugee experience through the lens of a survival tale featuring ants who exhibit resilience and cling together to overcome the treacherous ocean and reach a new land. 52 Lam skillfully establishes a link between the ants and the refugees by including newspaper pages in the endpapers. These pages present reports on the challenging conditions faced by Vietnamese refugees during their flight on the ocean. The hardships endured by the ants, including starvation, dehydration, encounters with pirates, and exposure to natural elements, mirror those of the refugees. By employing this symbolism, The Paper Boat conveys the profound impact of the refugees’ trauma, while avoiding excessive sentimentality or melancholy. Figure 5 Lam, T. (2020). Newspaper Collages on the Endpapers. The Paper Boat. [picture book]. Toronto, Canada: Owlkids Books. Furthermore, Lam’s portrayal of ants enduring harsh conditions exemplifies qualities found in refugees, such as resilience, determination, love, and mutual care: As one of nature’s smallest creatures, ants must often move and rebuild their colonies when they are attacked or their homes are destroyed. Like refugees, ants have scattered to all parts of the world. Wherever they find themselves, they adapt, contribute, and make a substantial impact on the local environment. Working together, they show great 53 determination and resilience in tough times. They have no fear of hardship and are willing to sacrifice themselves to ensure the safety of their families above all else. (Lam) The depiction of the refugees and the ants in parallel narratives serves as a powerful illustration of the agency and tenacity of the refugees. 4.4.3 Refugee Representation and the Image of the West Apart from the empowering portrayal of refugee resilience during the flight, another notable aspect of the story is its refusal to accentuate the Western “helping hands” (Hope, “Applying RefugeeCrit” 192) in the narrative. The endpapers of the book showcase various aspects related to the Vietnam refugee crisis, including Western humanitarian efforts like the Red Cross and protests for peace, as well as Canada's welcoming refugee policies. However, they also depict the harsh reality of hostile refugee policies and the dangerous conditions endured by refugees. Through its portrayal of both supportive and hostile attitudes towards refugees in Western countries, The Paper Boat breaks away from the prevailing narrative in children’s literature about refugees, which typically depicts Western countries as exclusively benevolent and embracing (Hope, “Applying RefugeeCrit” 191-199). Additionally, it is important to highlight that there is a lack of Western assistance throughout the narrative of the story, both during and after the refugee flight. While there is little emphasis on the lives of the new immigrants, there is a sense of Vietnamese people coming together to help each other during difficult times. Refugees are depicted as resourceful and courageous as they escape Vietnam on a homemade boat and risk their lives to save others’. What’s more, The Paper Boat does not present the new country as a “safe haven” (Hope, “Applying RefugeeCrit” 192) generously offered by the West out of good will. The 54 representation of refugees in The Paper Boat portrays significantly less reliance on Western philanthropy. The institutional support following the refugee flight in The Paper Boat is less present compared to Canada’s more contemporary responses to refugee crises like the Syrian refugee crisis. This difference may be partially explained by the historical backdrop of the 1970s, when attitudes and policies toward refugees were less comprehensive. However, its emphasis on refugees as active and engaged contributors to society, and the conceptualization of the new country as an inclusive place that embraces individuals of all races and backgrounds to establish their homes, present a balanced and reciprocal relationship between the refugees and the host country. The last two pages of the story present a series of images, starting with a close-up and gradually zooming out, showing the protagonist’s family in a state of happiness while having dinner. The shot of the protagonist’s family on the second-to-last page transforms into a grid, alongside numerous other window grids showcasing different families residing in the apartment building. The final page provides a broader view, displaying a collection of apartment buildings featuring families from various racial, cultural, and religious backgrounds observed through window grids. Additionally, pedestrians and vehicles can be seen passing by on the street. 55 Figure 6 Lam, T. (2020). Families in A Canadian Metropolis. The Paper Boat. [picture book]. Toronto, Canada: Owlkids Books. These scenes create a sense of normalcy and equality by placing the protagonist’s family within a multitude of families and showing their daily routines in a metropolis. By employing this deliberate juxtaposition, the portrayal of the relationship between the refugees and the receiving country emerges as one of equality, as the legal refugee status is substituted with an independent, fully agential figure capable of adaptation and forging a new life. 4.4.4 Reasons for the Refugee Flight In comparison to The Doll and Salma the Syrian Chef, The Paper Boat offers a notably higher level of detailed information regarding the refugee flight. With a collage of newspaper headlines, the endpapers intricately detail the history and political backdrop of the refugee flight, highlighting the Vietnam War. In addition, a Vietcong tank and armed Vietcong soldiers are also included in the story, implying the specific context of the flight. 56 In the author’s note, Lam explains the reason that compelled her family to flee, attributing it to the persecution from the oppressive North Vietnamese army, Vietcong, against those who supported the South Vietnamese government. Beyond domestic rivalry, Lam alludes to the presence of additional factors accounting for the trauma and suffering inflicted upon the Vietnamese people. These factors encompass the involvement of the United States and its commission of war crimes against innocent Vietnamese civilians, as depicted in newspaper collages on the endpapers. The form of the wordless picture book enables the author to guide the storytelling without being overtly present, while simultaneously inviting readers to recreate the implied text (Styles et al.). While The Paper Boat does not extensively cover the colonial and imperial aspects of the Vietnam War and Vietnamese history in its narrative, because the wordless form “engages an audience of all ages” (Beckett 53), mature readers may be prompted to consider or research the political, colonial, and imperial context of the story through its visual cues. 4.4.5 Conclusion Through the use of symbolism, The Paper Boat arguably evokes less sentimentality and melancholy typically associated with explicit depictions of the refugee suffering (Hope, “Applying RefugeeCrit” 192), while emphasizing the resilience and agency of the refugees. Refugees are depicted as competent and resourceful individuals who are able to overcome adversities in order to seek a better life. Meanwhile, the portrayal of the West highlights its inclusivity and diversity rather than its philanthropy. In comparison to The Doll and Salma the Syrian Chef, The Paper Boat provides a relatively comprehensive depiction of the refugee experience, encompassing the representation of life 57 before, during and after the flight. Through collages of news reports, the endpapers provide documentary-type information on the history and political context of the refugee flight, prompting readers to explore further. 58 Chapter 5: Conclusion 5.1 Discussion of the Research Questions This section offers a discussion of the analyses and findings related to the three picture books, organized into three clusters related to the initial research questions. The three clusters are: trauma representation and the child protagonist portrayal; refugee representation and the image of the west; reasons for the refugee flight. I then discuss the implications and limitations of the study and provide suggestions for future research and close with concluding remarks. 5.1.1 Trauma Representation and The Child Protagonist Portrayal The first question my thesis addresses is how trauma is depicted in contemporary Canadian picture books that feature child refugee protagonists. For each book, I explore how the child protagonist is depicted in the face of trauma, how the book represents child refugee protagonist and their life, and in what ways the story conforms to or deviates from the predominant traumatic flight narrative and “the wounded child” trope (Kidd, “‘A’ is for Auschwitz” 126) in children’s picture books. My analyses reveal that the representation of trauma varies across three picture books, as The Doll and The Paper Boat explicitly portray the traumatic flight, whereas Salma the Syrian Chef only subtly implies trauma connected to the forced migration. In The Doll, while the main emphasis of the narrative lies on the protagonist's life in Canada after the flight, where she is nurtured to become a successful doctor, the sole spread depicting the traumatic flight effectively communicates the perilous plight of the refugees through explicit language and visuals. By employing sentimental language and illustrations, the author portrays the refugee child as wounded and requiring assistance. Moreover, the protagonist's success in her 59 adult life is exclusively ascribed to Western philanthropy, suggesting her lack of agency and dependence on Western power, conceivably conveying a didactic message of kindness and gratitude. While most of the content in The Doll centers around the post-flight life in Canada, it continues to align with the dominant trauma-centered narrative that connects a refugee's identity exclusively to their flight experience and legal refugee status, which is based on an unequal power hierarchy that distinguishes refugees from the general population. Similarly, despite portrayal of the protagonist's achievements, the focus is placed on the external aid from the White Alberta Catholics rather than emphasizing the protagonist's own merits and capabilities, which potentially further perpetuates the stereotype of the wounded refugee child in need of salvation by those in positions of power. The Paper Boat, unlike The Doll, allocates the majority of its pages to depicting the refugee flight. Nevertheless, in conjunction with the explicit portrayal of the protagonist's family's near escape, the author artfully incorporates symbolism to create a parallel narrative in which a colony of ants braves the treacherous ocean, symbolically representing the refugee flight experience. Through the utilization of this narrative technique, The Paper Boat conceivably avoids the tendency towards excessive sentimentality often associated with explicit depictions of traumatic experiences (Hope, “Applying RefugeeCrit” 192). Instead, it underscores the positive attributes of the refugees, such as their resourcefulness, resilience, and self-efficacy. Despite the direct exposure to immediate danger and adversities, the refugee child protagonist demonstrates resourcefulness and resilience, actively contributing to the successful escape and enduring the harsh conditions. The portrayal of the child protagonist in this manner reflects the "wounded-but-resilient" child archetype noted by Kidd, enabling the examination and containment of trauma simultaneously (“Freud in Oz” 186). 60 Salma the Syrian Chef differs from the other two by excluding any depiction of the traumatic flight. The entire story unfolds in the post-flight life in a new country and revolves around a cooking event that serves as a platform for the child protagonist to demonstrate their agency and abilities. The portrayal of the child protagonist underscores her cheerful disposition and proactive nature, aligning her with the archetype of the ultimate "survivor of trauma" who serves as a source of spiritual guidance for troubled adults by exemplifying innate good morale (Smith 116). Despite Salma’s optimism, traces of trauma can still be inferred from the child’s witness of her mother’s distress and father’s absence. Nevertheless, in comparison to the other two narratives in which the young protagonists directly encounter the traumas inflicted by the war and the arduous circumstances of their escape, Salma's trauma appears to be more individualized and universally relatable, devoid of the specific socio-political contexts that compelled the forced migration. 5.1.2 Refugee Representation and the Image of the West The second question my thesis examines is the representation of the refugees and the West in recent Canadian picture books about refugees. In the analysis of each picture book, I investigate the power dynamics between refugees and the West within the narrative, while paying special attention to how refugee persons’ agency and resilience are portrayed. In the same manner of accentuating the refugees' traumatic flight, The Doll presents refugees as powerless and helpless, dependent on the Western intervention (Kisiara 163). In contrast to the traumatized refugee image, the West is portrayed as virtuous and powerful, generously extending helping hands to those in need. Consequently, the depiction of two contrasting images suggests that the relationship between the refugees and the West is characterized by unequal power dynamics, 61 rather than one that is rooted in equality and respect. Furthermore, because the story's moral highlights Western philanthropy, the merits of refugee individuals, such as their abilities, agency, and resilience, become overshadowed. Similar to The Doll, Salma the Syrian Chef also presents the West as completely supportive and hospitable. Nevertheless, it diverges from the conventional theme of gratitude in children’s refugee stories such as The Doll, by depicting the relationship between the refugees and the West as equitable and respectful, and presenting the refugees as agential, resilient and productive (Hope, “Applying RefugeeCrit” 193). Moreover, it explores the agential voice of refugees in the aftermath of the traumatic flight through an activity that capitalizes on their expertise and aptitude and showcases their admirable qualities, such as helpfulness and resourcefulness. In The Paper Boat, the depiction of the West is considerably restricted compared to the other two stories, in which the West is actively engaged in improving the lives of refugees. This may be due in part to the historical setting of this book—1970s, when attitudes and approaches toward immigrants in Canada were less comprehensive. The presence of a Western image is exclusively depicted through a panoramic shot of the landscape towards the conclusion. The West is depicted as a neutral and inclusive environment where individuals from diverse backgrounds reside, work, and establish their homes. Notably, there is a complete lack of Western philanthropist involvement throughout the entire narration of the story, spanning from the refugee flight and beyond. On the other hand, Vietnamese people are portrayed as resourceful, helpful, and resilient, assuming the principal roles in the narrative. They skillfully evade persecution, offer aid to one another, and exhibit unwavering resolve in the face of extreme calamities. Moreover, in addition to the storyline, the author presents a relatively comprehensive representation of the West through newspaper collages in the endpapers that 62 encompasses humanitarian spirits as well as hostile refugee policies. 5.1.3 Reasons for the Refugee Flight Finally, the thesis delves into the reasons for the flight of refugees. I investigate the extent to which the reasons for the flight are conveyed in the story and how each picture book presents the unfolding of these reasons. The reasons that compelled the refugee flight are explored to differing extents in these three picture books. Salma the Syrian Chef makes clear the refugees’ ethnic and geographic origins. However, its avoidance of the refugee flight also limits it from providing any information regarding the reasons leading to the forced migration. The focus on the portrayal of refugee persons’ agency and abilities in the post-flight life in Salma the Syrian Chef may inadvertently be at the cost of unpacking the complexities of the refugee flight. The Doll offers a straightforward explanation for the refugee flight, attributing it to "the cruelty of the war" (Tran-Davies), without delving into the specifics of when, where, and why the war took place. While the race of the refugees can be deduced through illustration, there is a lack of information regarding the specific geographic and socio-political contexts. Although experienced readers may be able to identify the war as the Vietnam War based on the author's note, the socio-political and colonial factors that contributed to the war are not discussed there either. The inadequate provision of information for the refugee flight may hinder meaningful engagement with the specific complexities of the situation and the underlying factors that led to the flight, beyond a superficial understanding of war violence. The Paper Boat, in contrast to the other two, presents a significantly higher level of detail regarding the political factors that drove the flight, explicitly depicting the involvement of 63 Vietcong military forces. Furthermore, the author's inclusion of collages of newspapers in the endpapers offers a detailed account of the Vietnam refugee crisis in the 1970s. These collages encompass information such as the year, location, parties involved, refugee policies, and the overall refugee situation. While The Paper Boat does not provide an exhaustive account of the colonial and imperial dimensions of the Vietnam War and the country’s history, the aforementioned visual elements may serve as a catalyst for discerning readers to delve deeper. 5.2 Implications, Limitations and Suggestions for Future Research This section outlines the implications and constraints of this study and endeavors to propose recommendations for future research. 5.2.1 Implications for Early Childhood Education Stakeholders Picture books, generally deemed as the first “narrative and textual artifact[s]” in a child’s literacy journey, bear great importance of facilitating children’s “cognitive, linguistic, and aesthetic development” (Arizpe et al. 373) and have increasingly been recognized as an important medium for multicultural, multilingual, and multimodal education. Many scholars and educators have explored the potential of utilizing picture books in classrooms in support of refugee awareness, multicultural education, and critical literacies development (Dolan; Nath and Grote-Garcia; Libnoch and Ridley; Papen and Peach). Although this study falls within the realm of literary studies, I hope to provide practical guidance for teaching diverse representations of the refugee experience to emergent readers. The findings suggest that to varying extents, these picture books depart from the prevalent “forced-to-flee” narrative (Strekalova-Hughes 23) commonly found in children’s picture books about 64 refugees, which predominantly focuses on the traumatic aspects of the fleeing journey. However, most of them fall short in depicting an equitable and/or comprehensive power dynamic between refugees and the West. For instance, The Doll implies a power hierarchy between the refugee persons and the Western philanthropists, whereas Salma the Syrian Chef offers portrayals of the West that are extremely limited in scope. These limited representations are particularly evident in their failure to emphasize the agency and capabilities of refugee persons and/or to provide adequate information about the socio-political factors contributing to the displacement. The Doll acknowledges Western philanthropy as the driving force behind all the accomplishments of the protagonist, with a motif of lauding kindness. Salma the Syrian Chef, although emphasizing the agency and capabilities of the refugees, presents almost no information regarding the Syrian refugee crisis. Given the length of picture books and the age-salient cognitive development of their readers, it is legitimate that authors opt to abstain from addressing the comprehensive depth of the refugee crises. Still, there are narrative strategies that support exploration or at least make mention of the context of the refugee crisis. The Paper Boat uses the symbol of ants to represent refugees encountering extreme adversities and offers historically accurate information in the form of newspaper collages, encompassing the comprehensive political context of the Vietnam refugee crisis in the 1970s and 1980s. Although the colonial dimension of the Vietnam War is not extensively explored in The Paper Boat, the documentary-style information depicted in the newspaper collages does provide some references. Nevertheless, emergent readers may potentially benefit more from reading the book with educators who possess the proficiency to adeptly interpret and explicate this information. It is crucial to recognize that the absence of comprehensive information regarding the socio-political and/or colonial context for the refugee 65 crisis may lead to a partial or even inaccurate understanding of the refugee experience, particularly when the child reader absorbs it independently without the guidance of well-informed parents or educators. The conclusions drawn from this study indicate that achieving a comprehensive and ethical balance in portraying refugee trauma and resilience is somewhat challenging, owing to various factors and constraints. Taking into account this challenging quandary, Darragh and Kelley propose the establishment of a comprehensive selection of books that encompass the full range of the refugee experience: Raising refugee voices is a balance of selecting books of atrocity that show refugees’ struggles and horrors with selecting books of hope and universal qualities while supporting young readers in understanding, advocating for, and welcoming newcomers into their communities and lives. (35) Darragh and Kelley's proposal presents a strategy for curating a collection of picture books about refugees, addressing the limitations of individual picture books in effectively conveying comprehensive information about refugee issues. Based on the findings of this study, I seek to expand on Darragh and Kelley’s strategy and invite educators to additionally consider the following aspects when selecting and mediating picture books about refugees for emergent readers: 1. Incorporating critical theories into the examination of individual picture books: the application of theoretical frameworks offers advantages in the evaluation of literary materials and the development of pedagogical strategies for their teaching. In the context of the refugee experience representation, the evaluation and mediation of teaching materials can benefit from the inclusion of theories and concepts such as 66 critical race theory, refugee critical race theory, critical refugee studies, multiculturalism, multilingualism, and critical literacies, which could serve as a guideline for text selection and mediation. Educators’ familiarity with some of these concepts may strengthen their mediation of choosing and teaching picture books about refugees with children. 2. Curating a collection of picture books about refugees that encompass the life before, during and after the traumatic flight: it is desirable for a picture book to meet all the criteria; however, various studies, including this one, reveal that many picture books only capture a limited perspective of the refugee experience (e.g. Strekalova-Hughes; Darragh and Kelley; Hope). Providing a comprehensive representation of the refugee experience through a wide range of diverse narratives that offer different perspectives may emerge as a viable option for many educators. 3. Examining the representation of the refugee persons and their experiences: scholars concur that trauma-based storytelling is no longer considered satisfactory as it overlooks other dimensions of refugee life and portrays them solely as vulnerable victims (e.g. Hope; Strekalova-Hughes; Duckels and Jaques; Darragh and Kelley). To counter the negative stereotypes associated with refugees, educators may search for picture books that showcase the refugees' funds of knowledge, diverse cultures, abilities, resilience, and other admirable qualities. 4. Being mindful of the power dynamics portrayed in the picture books: critical literacy denotes the ability to engage in active and reflective reading practices that foster a more profound comprehension of socially constructed concepts, including power dynamics, inequality, and injustice (Dolan, “The Potential of Picture Story Books for Teaching 67 Migration”). Educators may opt to facilitate the development of critical literacy by guiding children to explore the power dynamics between the refugees and individuals of non-refugee background illustrated in picture books. As part of this exploration, children are encouraged to challenge existing notions and envision the desired relationship between these groups. 5. Unpacking the factors leading to the refugee flight: a prerequisite for educators to disseminate knowledge about refugee issues is to be well-informed in these topics and, at the same time, possess an ethical awareness of the socio-political and colonial factors contributing to the refugee flight. Furthermore, it is imperative that mediation strategies are tailored to consider the age-salient cognitive development of the child readers. These suggestions are by no means an exhaustive handbook for selecting and mediating picture books about refugees for emergent readers. Nonetheless, I hope they at least prompt reflections on the inclusion of such considerations in pedagogical approaches. 5.2.2 Limitations of the Study and Suggestions for Future Research First, I want to acknowledge that while the goal of this study is to analyze picture books that amplify the voices of individuals compelled to leave their homelands, it primarily focuses on books featuring refugees recognized under the United Nations Convention relating to the Status of Refugees. Due to all three picture books depicting authorized migration under the UN convention, as clarified in the authors' notes (The Doll and The Paper Boat) or implied in the story (Salma the Syrian Chef), the scope of this study is constrained to displaced individuals with legal refugee status. However, it is important to recognize that there are other forms of forced migration where individuals do not receive the refugee status, such as asylum seekers and other 68 migrants, including those undocumented. Due to the limited availability of Canadian children’s picture books on these migrant categories, this study potentially excludes the experiences of asylum seekers and other displaced populations. Beyond the above limitation in regard to the types of refugees, as indicated in the literature review and methodology chapter, there is a lack of scholarship explaining the RefugeeCrit framework and its application to the analysis of children's literature, mainly due to its novelty. Consequently, this study provides a concise overview of the RefugeeCrit framework primarily relying on Strekalova-Hughes’ research and the analysis criteria are predominantly guided by the principles proposed in Strekalova-Hughes’ 2019 research on children’s picture books pertaining to refugee representation. Additionally, due to their recent publication, the three selected picture books also have very limited scholarships dedicated to them. While the lack of scholarship provides an opportunity for exploration in this study, it also imposes restrictions on the literature review of these three books. The principal objective of this study is to augment the limited scholarships that employ RefugeeCrit in the analysis of children's picture books, as well as to extend the literature on the three selected titles. By means of this undertaking, this study aims to draw attention to this emerging theoretical framework in the critique of children's literature and its relevance to Canadian picture books addressing the topic of refugees. Alongside the scarcity of scholarship on RefugeeCrit and the selected picture books, the literary nature of this study introduces the author's subjectivity as another limitation. I approached the examination of these selected picture books from a literary critique perspective, relying on my own knowledge and interpretations of the words and images. The central focus of this analysis primarily concerns the content itself, encompassing the exploration of literary 69 themes, augmented by interpretations of words and images. The analysis solely focuses on the literary components of the picture book, without considering other factors such as age appropriateness and page limit, which also greatly contribute to its meaning making. Exploring perspectives from disciplines like library studies and education, in addition to literary criticism in future studies would be beneficial, especially when considering the unique features of the picture book form. As a means of illustration, researchers might consider commencing their investigation by conducting literary analyses on picture books centered around refugees, employing critical framework(s) such as critical race theory, RefugeeCrit, multiliteracies, and multicultural education. The findings derived from the literary analyses could assist researchers to curate a selection of picture books about refugees, along with teaching guides based on the employed critical framework(s). These selected picture books about refugees, accompanied by teaching guides, would then be intended for use by teachers in classrooms where the cognitive development of the students aligns with the assigned books. A possible project could involve reader-response research, with the participation of children from refugee and non-refugee backgrounds. Researchers may document the child participants’ perceptions of the curated picture books both prior to and after the teachers’ mediation. The analysis of this data may yield meaningful findings and implications for the selection, mediation, and teaching of picture books about refugees in classroom settings. 5.2.3 Concluding Remarks Lastly, I would like to conclude this thesis with a brief reflection on the representation of refugee voices. As elucidated in the literature review chapter, scholars (e.g. Ward and Warren; Vassiloudi; Darragh and Kelley; Hope) have discerned the prevailing pattern in children's 70 literature for constructing the refugee narrative, which primarily revolves around the plight of refugees and their appeal for humanitarian assistance. Such a trauma-centered narrative could be argued to serve the purpose of eliciting empathy among readers; however, the over-emphasis on refugees’ deficits poses ethical concerns (Tomsic and Deery; Strekalova-Hughes; Darragh and Kelley; Hope). While fostering empathy is a desired outcome of reading refugee stories (Nel, “Refugee Stories for Young Readers”), it is easy for readers to slip into permissive empathy if the refugees are depicted solely as helpless and/or traumatized, among other characteristics (Darragh and Kelley 29). In contrast to the victimization of “the weak other” (Hope, “Applying RefugeeCrit” 194) in permissive empathy, Dudek proposes empathy with the ethics of care (363–376), which facilitates the understanding of others’ lived experiences and requires “thick description” (Sliep et al. 316) of refugee experiences that not only show their sufferings and struggles but also their agency, resilience, histories, cultures, and ways of living, so as to avoid generalizing refugees into one trauma-based identity. An empowering representation of refugee children and people not only facilitates ethical empathy of “an implied reader—the innocent or irrelevant child, or the middle-class Anglo-American child,” but also includes and empowers “an implied Other” (op de Beeck 20). Dolan explains the function of picture books about the refugee experiences is to “serv[e] the education of all learners about experiences of persecution, flight and resettlement, while also reassuring refugee readers that there is new life and hope for the future in an adopted country” (“Intercultural Education” 107). Through the careful selection of three recently published Canadian picture books on refugees, my intention was to examine alternative representation strategies that challenge the 71 prevalent trauma-centered narrative and instead embody the concept of ethics of care (Dudek). Despite the limitations of these three analyzed picture books in fully capturing the multifaceted nature of the refugee experience and the complex backdrop of the refugee crisis, their attempt to address this crucial issue in innovative ways serves as a steppingstone towards more nuanced representations and a deeper understanding of this critical issue. 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Thesis/Dissertation
eng
Children's Literature
Vancouver : University of British Columbia Library
Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International
Graduate
Rogers, Theresa
Representing trauma and the refugee experience : applying RefugeeCrit to recent Canadian picture books about refugees
Text