Happiness

Lots and lots of good news lately. First, we (and by we I mean me, my awesome graduate assistant, and a host of dedicated Asian Pacific American librarians) have been working super hard on the ALA Family Literacy Focus APALA children’s literature bibliography! It’s coming along pretty well, and I’m excited to see our final product.

Second, APALA has announced the winners of the 2010 APALA Literature Awards! The official announcement is posted at the ALA website. Congratulations to the winners! Tofu Quilt is my personal favorite Yay for literacy!

And third, today I gave a presentation at my university’s first Scholars’ Circle, an event where faculty are invited to share their research projects. I was totally nervous because it was the first time I’ve shared my dissertation research with the larger faculty, but I got great feedback and made some good connections.

All in all, it’s been a great week. I love my job.

Dr. SPark*

Today I defended my dissertation!!

Many, many, many thanks to my amazing committee members and friends and colleagues in the audience. Your guidance, support and encouragement have meant so much to me.

I’m a doctor! ^.^

Dissertation Abstract

Representations of Transracial Korean Adoption in Children’s Literature 
by Sarah Park

Dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Library and Information Science in the Graduate College of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2009.

Abstract: This dissertation examines and analyzes representations of transracial Korean adoption in American children’s literature published from 1955 to 2007.  Since the 1950s, more than 200,000 Korean children have been sent from South Korea to North America and Europe to be adopted into previously all-white families.  Over 110,000 were adopted into the United States.  Representations of transnationally and transracially adopted Koreans have appeared in over fifty American children’s books since 1955.  Early titles depicted orphaned Korean children in need of homes in order to promote the new phenomenon of transracial/transnational adoption.  More recent titles depict adopted Koreans’ experiences in the United States.

Based on my analyses of fifty-one children’s books, autobiographical writings by transracially adopted Koreans, and my observations during an international adoptee conference, it is clear that this literature does not holistically mirror the experiences of transracially adopted Koreans.  Most of the stories were written with the implicitly didactic purpose of describing and explaining adoption, often at the expense of engaging readers in an aesthetic reading experience.  Picture books uniquely tell stories through both text and illustrations or photographs, but there are often contradictions between text and image in depicting this experience.  In the more spacious format of the novel, authors idealize and validate adoptive mothers while de-maternalizing and invalidating the person of the birth mother.  Text and illustrations depict adopted Korean children as Other by the circumstances of when they are told about their adoption, the ways in which they are named, and their isolation from other adopted Koreans. My research provides a categorical framework for critically thinking about the types of adoption literature produced for children and gives insight into the characteristics and uses of ethnic and adoptive children’s literature.

Doctoral Committee:
Associate Professor Christine A. Jenkins, Chair
Professor Emerita Elizabeth G. Hearne, Director of Research
Associate Professor Moon-Kie Jung
Assistant Professor Eleana J. Kim, University of Rochester

Dissertation defense:
April 16 @ 3pm (LIS 131)

Seven

The sole purpose of this entry is to announce that I now have six complete dissertation chapters and am struggling through the conclusion. 

There is indeed a light at the end of this very long tunnel…

Anniversary

It’s been exactly one month since I moved from Los Angeles, California to Minneapolis, Minnesota. I’ve completely settled into my apartment and office and sufficiently learned the freeways and roads. I know how to get to all my friends’ houses, Target, Whole Foods and multiple routes to get to work. I think I found a church – or maybe a church has found me. I’m learning how to drive in the snow and whether or not my North Face jacket is necessary when the temperature soars above zero. 

What I’m not yet used to: being here. I still can’t believe this is my life. When I introduce myself to people I almost say, “I’m a graduate student.” As it is, most people ask me what I’m studying and where I go to school. “Illinois, but I teach at St Kate. And what do you do?”

What I love: being here. Every time I came to Minnesota in the past, I experienced a resurgence of energy, inspiration, motivation and challenge to persist in my quest for truth and literary justice for adopted Koreans in the realm of children’s literature. Being on the ground and intimately immersed in this community motivates and sustains me in my work.

What I need: to be here.