Canadian Historical Picture Books as Purveyors of Canadian History and National Identity
An awareness of history is as important to the transmission of a national identity and a sense of place as it is to our personal body of knowledge. Galway states, “The way a nation conceives of itself and its place in the world is revealed in the way it conceives of its history, and the way in which this history is communicated to its children” (2001, p. 21). Our understanding of history enables us to think laterally, making connections across time periods and between historical and contemporary events.
As we “hitch our own stories to the stories of those who went before us, the past becomes a useful resource in our everyday lives, an endless storehouse of raw materials to be shaped for our present needs” (Wineburg, 1999, p. 490). In addition, historical fiction “encourages children to think as well as feel” (Huck et al, 2001, p. 464); it is through history, for instance, that students often see issues and events from the perspective of others with different outlooks. These perspectives must include those outside “the culture of power” (Rogers & Soter, 1997). It is imperative that students learn to be critical thinkers and develop the ability to question why things happened and make connections between countries and/or events in the past and in the present. Discussing the reasons for events in history not only helps develop critical thinking, but more importantly, it also helps to develop historical empathy (Davis, Yeager & Foster, 2001). This historical empathy can be created through linking historical fiction to what children are learning about Canadian culture.
The idea that “literature is a significant means by which we disclose and construct our understandings of the world” (Leggo, 2001, p. 14) emphasizes the theory that children must understand history as part of the process of creating meaning (Galda & Cullinan, 2002; Huck, Hepler, Hickman & Kiefer, 2001). Knowledge of our history helps our children become more aware of what it means to be Canadian and of Canada’s place in the global community. The reading of historical picture books is one way to promote these concepts.
Children need to see themselves reflected in the books they read. Through reading, they make connections and relate to characters and events. In this way, a strong sense of self as individuals, as members of a family, as members of an ethnic group, and as citizens of a country, develops. Only then can we relate to others and realize that we are more alike than different (Galda & Cullinan, 2002; Jobe, 1993).
Children also need to have a sense of national identity. Jones and Stott (2000) state, “Children’s literature is an important cultural enterprise that both reflects and shapes national identity (p. vii)”, and, needless to say, this cannot be achieved exclusively through watching Hockey Night in Canada! Tracing the evolution of Canadian historical picture books and how they might impart a sense of Canadian history and Canadian-ness, or the acquisition of a national identity through cultural markers, will advance our understanding of their value to Canadian children’s literature. It will also assist in ascertaining the degree to which they help develop a Canadian identity in children. If it is important that historically-themed literature be presented to children, it is then valuable to identify which titles might accomplish this, and consequently, it is imperative that teachers become familiar with the titles available and how much Canadian content they contain.
To help develop a national identity, Canadian children need to see the Canadian landscape, its weather and flora and fauna, symbols, and icons as well as become aware of Canada’s cultural diversity, recognize its institutions, and appreciate its contributions to the world. Therefore, in order for Canadian children to identify with their country and appreciate its uniqueness, it is important that these attributes are authentically portrayed in the books they read (Diakiw, 1997). However, much of what Canadian children consume, in the manner of clothing, toys, and entertainment, has a pervasive American influence. Jobe (2002) questions whether or not Canadian children are getting an image of Canada through literature, and, whether they are gaining an understanding of what it is to be Canadian. Is Canadian content, including Canadian place names, landmarks, icons and symbols, being eliminated from Canadian children's literature (Aldana, 2001; Jobe, 2002)? Unfortunately, as a whole, my thesis found the answer to be yes. For instance, the books published in the 1970s and 1980s had averages of 22.2 and 19.5 respectively when landscape, plants and animals, and weather were looked at. In the 1990s the average dropped to 11.4 There are, nonetheless, some indications that changes are taking place. Between 2000 and 2002 inclusive, the average had risen to an average of 18.3.
The primary source from which the quality historical picture books were compiled for this analysis was Our Choice, The Canadian Children’s Book Centre’s (CCBC) selective bibliography. This valuable resource identifies the best books published each year in Canada, as selected by five independent juries of children’s literature experts from across the country. Secondary sources included critical publications such as CCL: Canadian Children’s Literature, and Quill and Quire as well as on-line sources such as CM: Canadian Materials.
My study identified and examined 129 Canadian historical picture books published from 1970 to the present that are suitable for elementary students. The objective was to determine the scope and degree of Canadian content in these books. Since “virtually the whole spectrum of the humanities and the social sciences…is concerned with symbols, messages, their functions, and effects” (Krippendorff, 1980, p. 9) these message characteristics refer to any object, word or phrase, or theme reference that informs the reader about Canada. The use of historical picture books that give both textual and visual stimulus thus provides children with a basis from which to understand their nationality. Since it is what children perceive in what they read and view that determines whether or not they have a sense of place and national identity, it was, therefore, vital to identify these signs and symbols. These cultural markers that exemplify a country, the culture of its people, and their history had to be assessed in order to use these books to their fullest effect.
This research represented a first step in analyzing the Canadian cultural markers found in historical picture books over approximately the last 40 years; it identified and classified the words, phrases, and objects within the pictures and text. It is a framework for analysis that describes and classifies all such historic references. Such indications as landscape, weather, plants, and animals, as well as important people and events, were considered. The degree to which these Canadian identifiers contributed to a sense of place, a sense of history, and nationalism was accomplished through a content analysis of a database which tallied each entry. Furthermore, the database containing classification of each book’s specific Canadian content hopefully made the books more accessible to teachers and teacher librarians, and ultimately will benefit Canadian students. In addition, annotations of each book gave details of the story and made comments on the art and possible uses in a classroom.
Data collection and Note-taking
This researcher undertook to make extensive observations for each title. Specific details in note form were taken to elaborate on its content. Standard bibliographic information such as author, title, publisher, date of publication, and illustrator were included for each entry. Initially, the books were classified into various types such as picture book, illustrated story, anthologies, and informational narrative, within the historical fiction genre. This last group, informational books, were examined if they went beyond being solely expository and included a significant element of narrative, thus, saturating readers with interesting stories as well as information and illustrations that “provide accuracy, clarification, and explanation” (Leal, 1993, p. 63). Genres included social history, historical fiction, biographical, poetry, and books with elements of fantasy. Secondly the themes and topics were identified as were place and time period, significant events, social groups and social issues. Other textual and visual descriptors, the Canadian cultural markers, also directly related to how the text and illustrations evoked a sense of place and national identity. Specifically they included the following:
1. Landscape: the depiction of and/or the mention of specific names of cities, regional areas such as the prairies and the Arctic, provinces, and geographic and man-made landmarks.
2. Canadian Plants and Animals: the flora and fauna common to Canada.
3. Weather: typical weather such as the harshness of the Canadian winter and types of climactic phenomena such as chinooks, and the northern lights.
4. Canadian Icons and Symbols: universally recognized Canadian emblems such as the beaver, the Hudson’s Bay Company, and the maple leaf.
5. References to Canadian Historical Cultures: links to England and/or France.
6. Canadian Government: municipal, provincial, or federal - including flags, coats of arms, and services such as the post office and the police.
7. Sports and Recreations: such as hockey, skiing, and quilting bees.
8. Multiculturalism and/or ethnicity: indications of any race, culture, or ethnic group including First Nations that allows the reader insight into such cultural markers as the clothing, food, and beliefs of that group.
9. Famous people.
Each of these descriptor fields was organized separately and tabulated. This tabulation of numbers within each field indicated the degree of Canadian content and sense of national identity portrayed. This also allowed for manipulation of the database to find the books with the most references or books taking place in a particular period of time or place. In this way, all books that are the same genre or have a high content of a specific marker, such as immigration, societal groups, or depiction of landscape, can be grouped together. In addition, two or more fields could be grouped together. For example, Time Periods could be arranged consecutively and/or in conjunction with Place.
It should be noted that some of the same identifiers also pertained to parts of the United States. Indeed, we share many similarities such as some weather conditions, geographic formations, and many plants and animals. Canadian children, however, should readily identify with such references. In addition, every attempt was made to be as inclusive as possible. These specific descriptors and Canadian content allowed for a more in-depth analysis to be undertaken.
It should be further noted that simply because a book had a particularly high count for a single cultural marker, it cannot be assumed that that book is highly recommended. As with all reading material it must be used after careful consideration by the teacher. For instance, some markers, such as place names, may merely list them yet not give a good sense of place. Another book may have a substantially lower number of landscape references, yet still gives a good depiction of the region through description and illustrations. Other books, simply because they deal with a specific social issue and significant event, are worthwhile for those reasons alone and not because they are imbued with many details about the landscape. It is therefore important that a wide selection of historically themed books be presented to children in order to give them a more balanced concept of Canada and its history.
The format of the entry for each book provided the following information:
1. Bibliographic information - author, title, publisher, and date of publication.
2. Annotation - a brief description of the plot, setting, theme, and characters of the story.
3. Commentary - any additional information deemed appropriate such as connections to other books, and awards won.
4. A. Type:
a) picture book
b) illustrated story
c) informational narrative titles
d) anthologies
B. Genre:
a) Historical Fiction - a title that recreates a past time and/or examines social conditions, and significant events and people, while “it weaves the facts into a fictional story” (Galda & Cullinan, p. 205).
b) Biographical - a title that recreates information about a well-known Canadian that is not the central character and the life story of a famous Canadian.
c) Social History - a title that reflects the lives of ordinary people.
d) Heritage - a title that, although often beginning in the present, tells a story from the viewpoint of, for instance, a grandparent telling a grandchild about his childhood.
e) Poetry - a single-volume title such as The Shooting of Dan McGrew (Service, 1988).
5. Number of pages.
6. Theme - the “larger meanings that lie beneath the title’s surface” (Huck, Hepler, Hickman & Kiefer, 2001, p. 16) e.g. survival, bravery, and change.
7. Topic(s) - the subject(s) contained within the title e.g. pioneers, railways, childhood, and immigration.
8. Place - specific cities, areas, and regions as well as provinces and territories and names of rivers, lakes, and streets.
9. Time Period - the era, year, decade, or specific date in which the action took place. Where the date or time period is not easily determined, an educated estimate was made using textual and visual clues such as style of clothing, types of transportation, and household articles. The date iss then followed by a question mark e.g. 1900s?
10. Societal Group - any distinctive ethnic or cultural group i.e. Mennonites, First Nations people, Japanese Canadians.
11. Social Issue - a controversial concept that may be explored through historic perspective-taking and empathy e.g. racism, women's roles, child labour.
12. Significant Event - a note-worthy historical occurrence e.g. Klondike Gold Rush
12. Significant Event - a note-worthy historical occurrence e.g. Klondike Gold Rush
13. Informational Reference - any additional historical detail or explanation contained outside of the body of the narrative such as author’s note, index, glossary and/or afterword
14. Canadian cultural markers - visual and textual descriptors
Definition of Terms
1. Cultural markers: Visual and textual indicators of a culture, both implied and visible, including icons, landmarks, landscape, weather and plants and animals associated with that locale; dress; food; artifacts and tools; activities and social customs; cultural attitudes; language patterns; and historical events and people that define a country and/or culture (Jobe, 1993).
2. Cultural icons: Those people, artifacts and symbols closely associated with and commonly recognized as indicators of that culture including coats of arms and flags, provincial flowers and trees, and important buildings.
3. Picture books: usually 32 pages with balanced and integrated text and illustration.
4. Illustrated stories: Longer than picture books with more text than illustrations.
5. Informational narrative: A balance of fact and fiction that complement and extend each other.
6. Anthologies: A collection of short stories around a theme or by a single author and often illustrated with at least one picture per story.
7. Textual Reference: mention of any of the cultural markers listed above as well as specific Canadian words, phrases, or colloquial expressions such as those found in the Newfoundland “dialect” or Native words incorporated into common usage.
8. Visual Reference: any depiction of Canadian cultural markers (see above).
References:
Aldana, P. (2001). Crossing the money boundary. Horn Book Magazine, 77(6), 675-681.
Davis, O. L.Jr., Yeager, E. A., & Foster, S. J. (Eds.). (2001). Historical empathy and
perspective taking in the social studies. Lanham, MD: Rowan & Littlefield.
Diakiw, J. (1997). Children's literature and Canadian national identity: A revisionist
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Galda, L. & Cullinan, B. E. (2002). Literature and the child (5th ed.). Belmont, CA:
Wadsworth Group.
Galway, E. (2001). Fact, fiction, and the tradition of historical nineteenth-century Canadian
children’s literature. CCL: Canadian Children’s Literature, 27:2 (102), 21-38.
Huck, C., Hepler, S., Hickman, J., & Kiefer, B. (2001). Children's literature in the
elementary school. (7th ed.) New York: McGraw-Hill.
Jobe, R. (1993). Cultural connections. Markham, ON: Pembroke Press.
Jobe, R. (2002). Establishing cultural identity through picturebooks. In Styles, M. & Bearne,
E. Art, narrative and childhood. (pp. 79-85). Stoke-on-Trent, UK: Trentham.
Jones, R. E. & Stott, J. C. (2000). Canadian children’s books: A critical guide to authors and
illustrators. Don Mills, ON: Oxford University Press.
Krippendorff, K. (1980). Content analysis: An introduction to its methodology. Beverly
Hills: Sage Publications.
Leal, D. (1993). Storybooks, information books, and informational storybooks: An
explication of the ambiguous genre. New Advocate, 6(1), 61-70.
Leggo, C. (2001). Living in words, living in the world: literature and identity. English
Quarterly, 33(1 & 2), 13-21.
Rogers, T. & Soter, A. (Ed.). (1997). Reading across cultures: Teaching literacy in a diverse
society. New York: Teachers College Press.
Wineburg, S. (1999). Historical thinking and other unnatural acts. Phi Beta Kappan, 80(77),
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