Representation of racist elements in children’s literature.

A brief overview on the story Dragon Wings by Lawrence Yep.

Abstract

The paper aims to explore the occurrence of racist elements knowingly or unknowingly in the genres of children’s literature with special focus on the story, Dragon Wings written by Lawrence Yep. The paper discusses not only on the presence of racist elements in Dragon Wings, it also centres on how the young minds are injected with the concepts of racial identity and attitudes in their minds through the works of children’s literature. The paper addresses the stereotypical depictions of race and culture in the works written for the children and also comprises how the aspect of acceptance of multiculturalism is not delivered into the children’s thoughts. The paper focuses on the story of Chinese and American cultures highlighting the work of Lawrence Yep and discusses how the author fails to generate a balance representation of multiculturalism in his works. Furthermore, the paper displays the approach of adult writers in representing and favouring their own race and culture in their writings even while focusing on children’s works.