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Rewriting Literacy makes a profound contribution to the developing field of literacy studies as it is the first book which seeks to link such disciplines as linguistics, sociolinguistics, anthropology, education, English as a second language, and reading and writing theory.
The chapters in this edited collection, by some of the foremost scholars of the day, all focus on the nature of literacy. Each article brings to light important concerns regarding literacy, concerns which are often ignored by the more traditionally oriented educationalist. The authors illustrate how literacy is embedded in a social and cultural context bringing into question the very nature of what it means to be literate. Each piece highlights, either implicitly or explicitly, the highly political nature of literacy and in doing so approaches the study of literacy from a critical and pedagogical perspective. The body of work presented in this volume is relevant not only to individuals whose main focus is on the area of literacy studies, but to all those concerned about minority disenfranchisement, institutional inequity, and the political, cultural, and social dimensions of education.
List of contents
Series Introduction: Literacy, Difference, and the Politics of Border Crossing by Henry A. Giroux
Preface
Literacy, Discourse, and PowerWhat Is Literacy? by James Paul Gee
Discourses of Power, the Dialectics of Understanding, the Power of Literacy by Adrian T. Bennett
The Struggle for Voice: Narrative, Literacy and Consciousness in an East Harlem School by Michele Sola and Adrian T. Bennett
"Gimme Room": School Resistance, Attitude, and Access to Literacy by Perry Gilmore
Multiple Ways of Constructing RealityThe Narrativization of Experience in Oral Style by James Paul Gee
Hearing the Connections in Children's Oral and Written Discourse by Sarah Michaels
Discourse Systems and Aspirin Bottles: On Literacy by James Paul Gee
The Politics of Reading and WritingThe Importance of the Act of Reading by Paolo Friere
The Politics of an Emancipatory Literacy in Cape Verde by Donaldo P. Macedo
Tropics of Literacy by Linda Brodkey
The Construction of School Knowledge: A Case Study by Jan Nespor
Benjamin's Story by Jonathan Kozol
Petra: Learning to Read at 45 by Pat Rigg
Literacy, History, and IdeologyHow Illiteracy Became a Problem (and Literacy Stopped Being One by James Donald
Hegomonic Practice: Literacy and Standard Language in Public Education by James Collins
Popular Literacy and the Roots of the New Writing by John Wilinsky
Index
About the author
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).
