Anne van den Bergh | Columbia University (original) (raw)
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Papers by Anne van den Bergh
With picture books playing a vital role in the development of young minds, it seems imperative th... more With picture books playing a vital role in the development of young minds, it seems imperative that they be not only entertaining and educational, but also sensitive to the nuances of the cultures, places, and peoples that they purport to represent. Based on the thesis that contemporary children's books, albeit in more subtle ways than their historical equivalents, continue to reproduce stereotyping, marginalizing, and neo-imperialist representations of African 'Otherness', this dissertation analyzes a sample of nine Dutch picture books, in light of the Orientalist and Africanist theories of 'Othering' elaborated by Edward Said and V.Y. Mudimbe, respectively. The study is organized in four chapters. In the first chapter, I lay out some of the basic principles of Orientalism and Africanism and elucidate their relation to the realm of children's literature, where I propose the concept of the 'echo' as a metaphor for the recurrence of Africanist discourse in contemporary writing for children. In the chapter that follows, I build on previous postcolonial critiques of Africanist children's literature in order to identify and describe three mechanisms of 'Othering', namely opposition, stereotyping, and superficiality. It is this theoretical framework that I apply in chapter 3 and 4, where I analyze and compare first the settings, and then the characters depicted in five early to mid-20 th century-and four 21 st century Dutch children's books. From this analysis it is apparent that contemporary books, in ways similar to those of the past, continue to feature Africanist imagery, where the African continent is consistently associated with rural, desert-like planes, exotic animals, and simple huts, and its inhabitants with flip-flops, poverty, and primitiveness. I conclude by suggesting critical literacy, cultural consciousness, and African authorship as key in eradicating Africanism from the literature for children.
Drafts by Anne van den Bergh
As the first chords of 'Mad World' begin to trickle from the grand piano at the center of the sta... more As the first chords of 'Mad World' begin to trickle from the grand piano at the center of the stage, a dozen young men and women in olive-colored army uniforms take their position alongside it, their singing voices betraying a slight Hebrew brogue. "In this sometimes mad world, we need the sound and sensible spirit of these soldiers who lived for their ideals, never gave up, and knew that beyond the arguments and superficiality we are all one people, connected to our land and our destiny," concludes one speaker.
Thesis Chapters by Anne van den Bergh
Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree of Master of Arts 2 "It's pol... more Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree of Master of Arts 2 "It's politics, and people dodge, they forever dodge, and soon you're way up there in the clouds, and it's the President of the United States, and who's he but some fast-talking dude who has wax on his shoes and can dance his way around anyone in sight. He's the big boss, the President, but our teacher says they lose, some presidents, because they don't do their bossing the way they should, and they slip and fall, and there's always someone waiting and laughing, and he's ready to take over where the first guy has left off, and that's what politics is, the woods, and the animals in it, the big fry and the small fry, with the big usually winning and the small usually losing -it's not good all around, if you ask me."
Teaching Documents by Anne van den Bergh
With picture books playing a vital role in the development of young minds, it seems imperative th... more With picture books playing a vital role in the development of young minds, it seems imperative that they be not only entertaining and educational, but also sensitive to the nuances of the cultures, places, and peoples that they purport to represent. Based on the thesis that contemporary children's books, albeit in more subtle ways than their historical equivalents, continue to reproduce stereotyping, marginalizing, and neo-imperialist representations of African 'Otherness', this dissertation analyzes a sample of nine Dutch picture books, in light of the Orientalist and Africanist theories of 'Othering' elaborated by Edward Said and V.Y. Mudimbe, respectively. The study is organized in four chapters. In the first chapter, I lay out some of the basic principles of Orientalism and Africanism and elucidate their relation to the realm of children's literature, where I propose the concept of the 'echo' as a metaphor for the recurrence of Africanist discourse in contemporary writing for children. In the chapter that follows, I build on previous postcolonial critiques of Africanist children's literature in order to identify and describe three mechanisms of 'Othering', namely opposition, stereotyping, and superficiality. It is this theoretical framework that I apply in chapter 3 and 4, where I analyze and compare first the settings, and then the characters depicted in five early to mid-20 th century-and four 21 st century Dutch children's books. From this analysis it is apparent that contemporary books, in ways similar to those of the past, continue to feature Africanist imagery, where the African continent is consistently associated with rural, desert-like planes, exotic animals, and simple huts, and its inhabitants with flip-flops, poverty, and primitiveness. I conclude by suggesting critical literacy, cultural consciousness, and African authorship as key in eradicating Africanism from the literature for children.
As the first chords of 'Mad World' begin to trickle from the grand piano at the center of the sta... more As the first chords of 'Mad World' begin to trickle from the grand piano at the center of the stage, a dozen young men and women in olive-colored army uniforms take their position alongside it, their singing voices betraying a slight Hebrew brogue. "In this sometimes mad world, we need the sound and sensible spirit of these soldiers who lived for their ideals, never gave up, and knew that beyond the arguments and superficiality we are all one people, connected to our land and our destiny," concludes one speaker.
Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree of Master of Arts 2 "It's pol... more Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree of Master of Arts 2 "It's politics, and people dodge, they forever dodge, and soon you're way up there in the clouds, and it's the President of the United States, and who's he but some fast-talking dude who has wax on his shoes and can dance his way around anyone in sight. He's the big boss, the President, but our teacher says they lose, some presidents, because they don't do their bossing the way they should, and they slip and fall, and there's always someone waiting and laughing, and he's ready to take over where the first guy has left off, and that's what politics is, the woods, and the animals in it, the big fry and the small fry, with the big usually winning and the small usually losing -it's not good all around, if you ask me."