Synopses & Reviews
Developing a new synthesis of literacy studies, this book explores the domain of power through questions of colonialism, modern state formation, educational systems and official versus popular literacies. James Collins and Richard Blot present a critical discussion of particular cases and discuss the role of literacies in the formation of class, gender, and ethnic identity.
Synopsis
Includes bibliographical references (p. 187-207) and index.
Synopsis
Literacy and Literacies is a new and engaging account of literacy and its relation to power. The book develops a new synthesis of literacy studies, moving beyond received categories, and exploring the domain of power through questions of colonialism, modern state formation, educational systems and official versus popular literacies.
About the Author
James Collins is Professor of Anthropology and of Reading at the University at Albany, State University of New York. He is the author of Understanding Tolowa Histories: Western Hegemonies and Native American Responses (1998), as well as of book and journal articles.Richard Blot is Assistant Professor at the Graduate Program in Literacy Studies, Lehman College, City University of New York. He has published in a number of journals, including TESOL Quarterly, Anthropology and Education Quarterly and Latin American Anthropology Review.
Table of Contents
1. Introduction: texts, power and identity; 2. The literary thesis: vexed questions of rationality, development, and self; 3. Situated approaches to the literacy debate; 4. Literacies and power in modern nation states: EuroAmerican lessons; 5. Literacies and identity formation: American cases; 6. Literacy, power and identity: colonial legacies and indigenous transformations; 7. Conclusion: Literacy lessons: beginnings, ends, and implications.