The British government's current educational policy for England draws on E.D. Hirsch's writings on 'cultural literacy'. This paper aims to uncover the roots of Hirsch's influential views through a genealogical critique. Hirsch admired the Scottish Enlightenment educator Hugh Blair as a model architect of a hegemonic culture to unite disparate…

Reports on a study of picture books by and about Asian Americans that identified Asian groups in the literature; determined the literature's authenticity; determined literary and visual quality; and identified ethnicity of authors and illustrators and whether ethnicity affected authenticity or quality. A list of the books sampled is appended. (28…

The work of a number of American literary critics on the novels of contemporary Spanish women are reviewed. It is argued that the criticism generally suffers from ethnocentrism and lacks insight into the reality of the lives of Spanish women. The works of Matute, Martin, Gaite, and Quiroga, among others, are discussed. (EF)

Examines the work of two "East-West" storytellers, six-year-old Navdeep (born in Britain into a Punjabi Sikh heritage family) and Salman Rushdie. Looks at Navdeep's "The Witch and the Gang" for its narrative competencies. Uses Rushdie's "Haroun and the Sea of Stories" as a means of contextualizing Navdeep's story. (TB)

The geographical, cultural, and linguistic diversity of the Philippines has strongly influenced the construction of self in Filipino literature. Filipino writers must formulate the fictional self in the midst of a tussle between the language of reality and the language of writing that is exacerbated by the country's colonial heritage. (JL)

This volume, the fourth in a series, brings together the conversations of the profession that were explored during the 1993 and 1994 Summer Institute for Teachers of Literature. This anthology of essays considers what "American literature" is and how definitions of this category affect teaching practices. The essays argue for the…

Examines Chinese-American author M. H. Kingston's book "The Woman Warrior" and the controversy and literary response to it. Discusses the dilemma of the "ethnic" writer and other issues including the use of literary license and social documentation and tensions between historical and experiential authenticity. (JB)