I am Scared of “the Other: Sparks of Cultural ‎Citizenship in Iranian Young Adult Fiction

Document Type : Research Paper

Author

Assistant Prof. of Persian Language &; Literature University of Guilan Rasht, Iran

Abstract

In the fast moving contemporary world characterized by cultural diversity and cultural fusion, it has become more and more evident that it is necessary to understand the "other", to practice tolerance, and to recognize human and non-human rights in both virtual and real worlds. In recent years in Iran, the education of citizenship through children's and young adult literature has come under the attention of official institutions such as the municipalities. Holding “My City Festival” in Isfahan, the publication of educational books for children and adolescents about citizenship in East Azerbaijan, and the publication of children's stories by Shiraz Municipality are some examples of these efforts. With the establishment of Shiraz University Center for Citizenship Education which held the first conference on Citizenship Education, attention has been paid to the theoretical discussions of citizenship and children's rights. In these events, however, due attention has not been paid to the rights of women, children, minorities, immigrants and child laborers, as well as to cultural differences and diversity. There has also been a very limited concern with the environment.
The present and absent components in these events show the dominant approach to the concept of citizenship in the macro policies. Given the fact that the policies of publishing and supporting authors depend on the policies of censorship, children's and adolescent literature cannot be separated from this cultural and social context. Focusing on the adolescent world and situation, young adult fiction represents the status of adolescents from different social classes in terms of their rights. Young adult fiction can raise the adolescents' awareness of their rights and their citizenship responsibilities, inviting them into social activism and understanding "the other". "Cultural citizenship" as a concept is not addressed adequately in Iran. Regarding this gap, in this article, I examine the representations of cultural citizenship in Iranian young adult fiction.

Keywords

References

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Iranian Children's Literature Studies
Volume 14, Issue 1 - Serial Number 27
September 2023
Pages 33-60

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History

  • Receive Date: 20 April 2022
  • Revise Date: 23 July 2022
  • Accept Date: 23 July 2022

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