The Other and the Ethics of Hospitality in Racism Picture Books

Today, South Korea has entered a society where people of different races live together and is facing the problem of how to treat people of different races. The purpose of this study is to examine racism in picture books based on Levinas' philosophy. This paper conducted a qualitative content analysis of picture books that deal with racism, examining who is portrayed as the “other” how their lives are depicted, and how they are portrayed as hospitable. First, the other in the picture book try not to be assimilated into mainstream society, either rejecting it as the same or appearing as independent beings even in the face of adversity. On the other hand, the dominant group segregates the other by space or excludes them with hostility, and in such a situation, the other appeals to their situation with their face. Second, the characters in the picture books demonstrated an ethical attitude of accepting marginalized others and taking responsibility for their hospitality. Therefore, picture books address race to help young children consider and respect others rather than discriminate and exclude, and raise the possibility of ethics towards other for children. Above all, picture books about race highlight the appeal of ‘the other’ through both text and illustrations, as children naturally respond to one another with empathy. In the future, picture book publishing should explore new possibilities for portraying characters of different races living together in society.