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I'd like to share a few thoughts about a book that I used in a unit based on identitieS while discussing the topic of ''what's in a name?'' I was teaching in a diff school&the majority of my Ss were SOC.I wanted to use this book 2 emphasize the importance of honoring our names
+ how names become racialized in Western societies. This book was also a way to open up about my childhood. So, I 1st asked Ss to tell me everything that they assumed about me before/after seeing me. I was a new teacher.
Here we go: ''based on your first name, we thought that you were W & Ossia (wh is my married name) sounds Italian.'' Me: Ossia is actually Arabic but I'm not Arab. I'm from the Middle-East & grew up in France.
''I was a refugee, then I became French, now I'm an immigrant in the US.'' After this intro, we discussed about our multiple identities, how nuance is important in our narratives, what it means to become a POC, be a POC in France & the US
Sorry for the digression but this is my teaching style. When Ss feel comfortable about sharing out, I won't stop them. This is what I call ''classroom discourse.'' We share, ponder, reflect, make connections
Back to the book. It's not a #CI Reader but an #authres: written by a native-speaker for native speakers. It's called Mustapha. The story is about this boy who can't speak French. We don't know where he's from. However, based on his name & this pic, it's open season 4 assumptions
Mustafa who has not a name & a country will eventually meet Maria who has a cute cat. This is how the story ends
So, as a non-W teacher from the Middle-East who could be Mustafa's auntie, I chose this book to emphasize the importance of names who reflect cultural narratives. Narratives of loss in the case of Mustafa & so many of us
despite my commitment to decolonize my mind & curr, I chose a book that inivisibilizes Mustafa. He will only reclaim his name & identity when the W character teaches him how to say his name. Before that, he was invisible.
We'll never know where Mustafa is from.His country is called ''le pays d'avant'' & his only memory about his country is based on flames & destruction. So, this traumatic experience wh will NEVER fade away (believe me on this one) is treated as a parenthesis.
Mustafa will be fine however. He used to feel invisible but Maria will give him agency. She'll give him a voice. Empower him to say his name. Do you see why this is problematic?
I read this book to my daughters (9 & 6 at that time). They had questions.''is the writer from the same country as Mustafa''? ''why does Mustafa speak French with his mom when it's obvious that he doesn't speak French?''
''It's too easy to think that Mustafa will have a happy life thanks to Maria. Why is Maria blonde btw? How about all the racist stuff that ppl will associate with his name at school?''
Conclusion: I messed up. I chose a book written by a White writer who didn't name Mustafa's country, veiled his mother to give readers some clues, reduced his memories to destruction until he was rescued by a W character.
When I bought this book, I thought that it would be a nice addition to my unit. It's in French & it's an #authres! And, the character has the same name as my beloved uncle. He's from MY region. yet, this region was poorly represented: sad, devastated, grim.
