A critical content analysis of international travel experiences in children's literature

The purpose of this study is to understand the representations of intercultural learning in children's and adolescent literature through examining protagonists' cross cultural experiences during their international journeys. This study provides a new lens on global children's literature because limited research has been done to understand how the idea of intercultural learning through international travel is portrayed in books at a time when many readers have the opportunity to travel across the continents. The theoretical framework of this study consists of intercultural theories, global competency and critical literacy. Nine children and young adult's realistic fiction novels were analyzed through critical content analysis as a research method to understand whether the international journey enables the protagonists to critically examine their privileges and responsibility in the world. The first findings indicate that intercultural learning is portrayed with exoticism in this text set. Secondly, insider authors and the authors who have close relationships with the groups they write about are more careful about cultural authenticity than outsider authors. Additionally, several writers employ a writing formula to depict international travelers' intercultural learning process. The formula begins with a protagonist's rejection to the new cultural experiences to the acceptance of new cultures. However, the writing formula neglects readers' diverse cultural backgrounds in the current world. Lastly, the development of critical consciousness is absent in the text set. Most of the protagonists did not discover their relationships in the world through their journeys. Conclusions from the analysis suggest the need for more sophisticated global children's literature that highlights international travel and cross cultural relationships in order to provide readers with deeper and broader worldviews.