What’s in a Name? Assimilation Ideology in Picturebooks

Abstract

This paper examines the implementation of assimilation ideology in picturebooks. Texts such as My Name is Yoon (Recorvits & Swiatkowska, 2003) and The Name Jar (Choi, 2001) present two Korean girls’ arrival in a new school environment that has difficulty pronouncing their names. Consequently, they demand substituting the Korean spelling with English spelling and changing the name to an American one. The analysis reveals that although the picturebooks may offer real-life experiences of immigrant children, the protagonists respond in different ways to their name changes. A critical reading of these picturebooks allows readers to identify an assimilationist ideology. The paper will conclude that investigating this highly topical subject has the potential to address related educational issues in innovative ways, and students of different age groups can critically reflect on the texts, their sociopolitical dimension and develop their critical literacy.

Keywords

• assimilation ideology
• pluralism
• intercultural learning
• naming
• identity