Insider vs. Outsider Debate

It seems the insider vs. outsider debate has been raging in the world of children’s literature for quite some time. The first bit of research I did on this topic included looking up the definitions of “insider” and “outsider.” The best plausible definition for insider I found was “a person belonging to a limited circle of persons who understand the actual facts in a situation or share private knowledge” (dictionary.com) while a supposed outsider was “a person unconnected or unacquainted with the matter in question” (dictionary.com). Therefore, it would seem an insider would need direct and unrestricted access to a culture to be considered an insider. With this in mind I feel it would be incredibly rare for an outsider to completely and accurately portray the characteristics of an unfamiliar culture.

I drew from the ideas of two important authors’ in the debate over multicultural literature when determining my stance on the insider/outsider issue. First, in Rudine Sims Bishop's article, A Reply to Shannon the Canon, she states; "you have to know a culture intimately if you're going to reflect it accurately in your fiction" (p 6). From this viewpoint it seems only a personally involved individual could truly write accurate children’s diversity literature. To me, only someone considered an insider of the culture could be attributed as intimately involved with the culture. Next, Violet Harris also explains in her article No Invitation Required to Share Multicultural Literature; "I selected the authors because they are experts in literacy and/or children's literature; they are informed about the group's literature; and they possess the critical consciousness that enabled them to assess the literature in a forthright manner" (p 11). The words “critical consciousness” leads me to conclude the person in question understands and is completely involved within a certain culture. Therefore, these authors were chosen because they could from the definition of insider given above be considered insiders to the specific culture they were writing about. Consequently, with all these ideas in mind, I believe it is incredibly difficult, if not nearly impossible, to accurately write as an outsider about an unfamiliar culture. To put it simply, only an insider can completely write accurate and respectful literature about his or her own culture.

Some questions on this topic include:
How have others defined an "insider" to a culture? What about an "outsider"?
If outsiders completely immerse themselves with a certain culture, can they then be considered insiders?
Can an outsider be considered an expert in another culture?
How is this issue connected to the debate over what constitutes multicultural literature?