Crimes and comics
Francoise Herrmann (fherrmann who-is-at igc.apc.org)
Thu, 30 Nov 1995 09:59:25 -0800
Hi Angel and everyone, I am sorry that I do not have any good
suggestions for alternative ESL materials for your kids in Hong
Kong, but I've been thinking about your message. And perhaps, like
Rosa, would like to confess my love of comic books. (I still read
them! and my heroins are "Cathy", "Sylvia's Planet" , Claire
Bretecher's work and of course Art Speilgelman and "Zippy" among
others...) . What I thought though, and no doubt that this is what
you meant by "this has aroused much criticism from mainstream
educationists in Hong Kong who see these comics as the main source
of our children's 'literacy problems" is that it seems almost
criminal to me to want to change the terrific motivation there
already exists to read such material. Parents and educators want
kids to read (and also want kids to love reading) but when they
do, as in your case, it is the wrong kind of reading (!). Who
says? and why is it wrong? What's wrong about it? Is it too much
fun? Is it too true? Does it provide something too good? Is it too
easy? I would certainly feed the "mainstream educationist" with
alternatives and have them handy to offer, but deep down I would
ride with the motivation gold mine. I would make the whole school
one comic book world and get the maximum mileage out of the super
heroes. Who says the Super Heroes can't talk English, do
trigonometry or analyze their own action packed adventures by
gender, age and ethnicity? This must be what you had in mind when
you suggested developing your own materials. I think that people
like Umberto Eco have done analyses of comic books, and perhaps
that this genre of literature enters the aristocratic hierarchy
(at the serfdom level) in the world of literature. To me though,
as mediated expression, it is King and Queen. Further, when kids
are willing to spend their LUNCH (!) money on such material, its
gotta to be REALLY good.
Francoise Francoise Herrmann fherrmann who-is-at igc.org