In 1981, the United Nations established September 21st as the International Day of Peace. Year after year, communities around the globe have celebrated the initiative with moments of silence, workshops, and parades. This year’s theme is “Cultivating a Culture of Peace,” with an accompanying illustration of doves—international symbols for peace—taking leaves out of a book.
Cultural literacy, as coined by American literary critic E. D. Hirsch, can be defined as the ability to understand, respect, and appreciate the customs, traditions, and histories of different cultures. To be culturally literate isn’t merely to acknowledge the distinctness of every country’s culture, but rather to embrace the similarities and differences between them equally and fairly. Books are particularly effective tools for achieving this, enabling international travel and education from the comfort of one’s living room! And in 2024, the need for literature’s exposing and illuminatory power is acute. At Storyshares, we witness the transformative power of engaging, relevant stories in igniting the literacy journey for countless readers who have long been overlooked.
International Literature as a Peacemaker
Quite commonly, the extent of the average citizen’s knowledge of foreign cultures or conflicts is limited to what they see on TV or social media. News reports with jarring footage of violence taking place in cities thousands of miles away often blur together and come to seem completely removed from and inapplicable to our own lives and realities. Moreover, the stories of the human beings most directly affected are conveyed to viewers by composed and seemingly disengaged news reporters seated behind big desks. Is it any wonder that the realness and horror of present-day conflicts are so hard to truly comprehend?
Books, on the other hand, are essentially humanistic. While news outlets are often mandated to maintain a neutral, impersonal account, literature, by its very nature, personalizes the story. Whether it be in an autobiography or work of fiction, a character’s response—intuitive, impulsive, or irrational—will strike a chord within the reader irrespective of time and place. Suddenly, you are being given a firsthand account of a war you’d never had a reason to feel connected to. A citizen of a country you’ve never visited is telling you her story in a way that makes you realize the space separating you geographically is no wider than the page you turn. She’s just like you. Humanizing the struggles and divides that shape our world today, books make it much more difficult to “other” those we feel we don’t know. By reading stories so unlike your own, you begin to realize how superficial most of our differences are.
Perhaps the most literal cultural literacy devices are book translations. Some of the most influential books in the English-speaking-world weren’t written in English at all! Take Les Misérables, which teaches people everywhere the hardships of the urban class divide that exists in so many big cities today. It was originally written in French, by the renowned Victor Hugo, but went on to be sold tens of millions of times worldwide. As a further example, Russian author Leo Tolstoy’s War and Peace deconstructs any glorified perception of war and demonstrates its cruel, and oftentimes meaningless quality. Detailing historical events and intimate human experiences, it highlights the devastating cost of conflict on a level deeper than that of any news report. It is no coincidence that these books have stood the test of time and remain, centuries later, cornerstones of cultural and academic discourse.
Looking Forward
As I sit and write this post, humanitarian crises continue to unfold internationally. To those living in countries so removed from the turmoil, it is easy to feel a sense of helplessness. What can I do from so far away? Even if it’s simply taking a book off your shelf and acquainting yourself with characters of different backgrounds, languages, and beliefs, it’s a step in the right direction. Insulating ourselves in bubbles of what we know and what feels familiar does not contribute to progress. Change may not be comfortable, but it is necessary. Conflict resolution may not be easy, but it is possible—and it starts with awareness and empathy.
Books have the unique effect of creating very personal experiences: unlike films, where no detail is left to the imagination, reading leaves so much open to interpretation. It is therefore easier for readers to find themselves on the pages they turn. This is the guiding principle that Storyshares was founded on. Sometimes, the feeling that you’re being spoken to directly is all it takes to spark an interest, a passion, a career path. Just like the doves in the above illustration, a young reader is sitting somewhere right now, taking a leaf out of a book written in a country she’s never been to. To read international literature is to collect leaves from around the world, and grow your very own tree of understanding.
This International Day of Peace, Storyshares urges you to pick up a book from another culture. Discover inspiring international tales like One Million Steps to Freedom and Divided in Land but Together in Heart: A Tale of Cyprus available to read in our eLibrary! Or, check out the Storyshares Newcomer/Multilingual Learner bundle, which contains high-low books written specifically to resonate with newcomers and/or multilingual learners in middle and high school. These works amplify the voices of individuals whose very existences serve as testaments to the true strength of humanity, and power of peace.