Teaching Shabanu: the challenges of using world literature in the US social studies classroom

Abstract

This paper discusses inclusion of global literature in social studies curricula, especially in teaching about women of the world. It analyses the attraction of, and difficulties with, a popular work of young adult fiction, Shabanu, often taught in US middle‐school social studies and humanities classrooms. It uses the framework of post‐colonial, feminist theorizing and critical, post‐structuralist considerations in history and literature to analyse the novel. It draws on several sources: my experiences in incorporating the book into a teacher‐education course in social studies education; interviews with teachers and teacher educators; testimonials about the book available on the Internet, including the reactions of Muslim groups in the USA; and interviews with Pakistani‐American students about their reactions to the book.

Keywords:

• gender issues
• social studies
• world history
• world literature
• teacher education

Acknowledgements

I thank Penny Colman for her expert consideration of the issues raised in this paper.

Notes

1. The honours include: 1990 Newbery Honor Book, American Library Association Best Book for Young Adults, American Library Association Notable Children’s Book, New York Times Notable Book of the Year, Horn Book Fanfare Honor Book, International Reading Association Young Adults’ Choice, International Reading Association Teachers’ Choice (Staples 1989, rear cover).

2. In some US cities and states, the only social studies being taught at present is through fiction and non‐fiction in language‐arts classes because of the focus on literacy brought about by the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (Knighton 2003).

3. Knopf’s promotional brochure (Knopf Marketing n.d.) offers a biographical statement by Staples in which she shares information about her upbringing, family, education, choice of career, and love of adventure and the ‘exotic’. On the first page of this two‐page brochure, Staples presents herself as disparaging her mother’s advice to settle down: ‘Quit this Mata Hari life and meet a nice man, get married, and have some kids’. On the next page, after time travelling overseas, ‘extensively with Mr. Gandhi as she campaigned’, to Kabul and Islamabad, Staples confesses that in India ‘the most remarkable event in my life’ occurred—meeting Rocky Staples, the Ford Foundation representative in India. The rest of the story is predictable: ‘friendship and love affair’. Their marriage reflected their mutual love of India: ‘Our celebration included fireworks, a silver‐caparisoned elephant, thousands of winking Divali lamps, and dancing into the night to the music of a troupe of Rajasthanis in Day‐Glo turbans who played on wooden flutes and cow ribs’.

4. Compare the story of the ‘nappy‐hair’ controversy in a New York City public school a few years ago (Holloway 1998).

5. In this vein, she mentioned two organizations—the Council on Interracial Books for Children and the Oyate organization. The latter organization publishes lists of ‘Books to Avoid’ on their web‐site, including works by Rinaldi in the ‘Dear America Series’ published by Scholastic which is criticized extensively on Oyate’s web‐site (Oyate 2004).