Rewriting Literacy: Culture and the Discourse of the Other

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This book links such fields as linguistics, anthropology, sociolinguistics, and education to illustrate how the problem of literacy is embedded in a social and cultural context. The majority of the essays included in this volume are based on original, primary research and bring to light important concerns about the highly political nature of literacy. These concerns, often ignored by the more traditionally oriented educationalists, are the highlights of these essays that explore literacy from a critical perspective. The body of work presented here is relevant not only to individuals whose main focus is the area of literacy studies, but to all those who are concerned about minority disenfranchisement, institutional inequity, and the political, cultural and social dimensions of education.

Reviews

Mitchell (University of New Hampshire) and Weiler (Tufts University) have made an important contribution to the study of literacy, which is viewed as more than decoding and encoding of language. Questions asked by the authors are what is to be read, what form will writing take, and what language or dialect will be used in the process. The contributors, from various fields, invite into the discourse the voices of marginalized excluded individuals including females, the poor, African Americans, Asians, Hispanics, Native Americans, and others to help reshape and expand the definition of literacy. Reporting on their own research, many of the authors show how non-mainstream individuals make sense through their discourse although it is a mismatch with the discourse structure of schools. They show ways in which learning to read and write are not neutral activities divorced from social, cultural, historical, and political contexts but are permeated with power, control, and value factors generated by the dominant group. The chapter authors present valuable bibliographic references. This extremely interesting book is strongly recommended for upper-division undergraduate and graduate collections.-Choice
Readers of Language in Society who are concerned with discussion of literacy issues across fields will find Rewriting literacy a useful starting point. This volume demonstrates how linguistic and sociolinguistic analyses can inform this area of study. The inclusion of a range of theoretical and methodological perspectives also makes visible the limitations of linguistic analyses, and suggests other approaches and issues that need to be examined. For those with extensive background in examining the relationship between literacy and language, this volume will provide a historical collection; it may bring forward authors not usually associated with a linguistic perspective.-Language in Society
"Readers of Language in Society who are concerned with discussion of literacy issues across fields will find Rewriting literacy a useful starting point. This volume demonstrates how linguistic and sociolinguistic analyses can inform this area of study. The inclusion of a range of theoretical and methodological perspectives also makes visible the limitations of linguistic analyses, and suggests other approaches and issues that need to be examined. For those with extensive background in examining the relationship between literacy and language, this volume will provide a historical collection; it may bring forward authors not usually associated with a linguistic perspective."-Language in Society
"Mitchell (University of New Hampshire) and Weiler (Tufts University) have made an important contribution to the study of literacy, which is viewed as more than decoding and encoding of language. Questions asked by the authors are what is to be read, what form will writing take, and what language or dialect will be used in the process. The contributors, from various fields, invite into the discourse the voices of marginalized excluded individuals including females, the poor, African Americans, Asians, Hispanics, Native Americans, and others to help reshape and expand the definition of literacy. Reporting on their own research, many of the authors show how non-mainstream individuals make sense through their discourse although it is a mismatch with the discourse structure of schools. They show ways in which learning to read and write are not neutral activities divorced from social, cultural, historical, and political contexts but are permeated with power, control, and value factors generated by the dominant group. The chapter authors present valuable bibliographic references. This extremely interesting book is strongly recommended for upper-division undergraduate and graduate collections."-Choice

Author Bio

CANDACE MITCHELL is Assistant Professor of English at the University of New Hampshire. She has published and edited numerous articles on the subject of literacy. KATHLEEN WEILER is Assistant Professor in the Department of Education at Tufts University. She is the author of Women Teaching for Change (Bergin & Garvey, 1987).