A key concept that we introduce and develop in this article is multimodal counternarrative, the way in which individuals employ multiple modes of representation to push back against oppressive master narratives. In order to identify and analyze this form of counternarrative, we develop and explicate an analytic tool called multimodal microanalysis. We use multimodal microanalysis to study a digital poem produced by a high school sophomore who identifies as gay, Asian, and a second-generation immigrant. Our analysis indicates that this young man uses digital media in four key ways to create his multimodal counternarrative: by remixing stories and traditions, mixing modes, using functional load to foreground identity, and creating dialogic space for his audience. We conclude that youth can create counternarratives in school contexts by employing multiple modes within digital media production to simultaneously highlight and resist cultural ideologies that may otherwise function to marginalize them or silence their voices.
In this article the authors explore the relationship between concepts of identity and the purpose, process, and products of youth media arts organizations. Since the explicit mission of these organizations is to work with adolescents to explore and represent identities, the authors develop our understanding of how organizations conceptualize identity development and how these concepts shape the digital film-making process and products. In a comparative case study of In Progress (St Paul, Minnesota) and Reel Works Teen Filmmaking (New York City), organizational leaders were interviewed, and a semiotic analysis conducted of the organizations' websites and other public, printed materials. The authors analyzed the films as products of these organizations' production processes to understand how these organizations define identity and what these definitions mean for how they do their work with youth. They found two distinct conceptualizations of identity: identity as community building, and identity as individualization. Unpacking these different conceptions helps us to understand how youth media arts organizations shape the identity development process and what is made possible for participating youth. This work can also lead us to more sophisticated models of adolescent identity development, particularly for non-mainstream communities who have often been saddled with dominant cultural models that do not quite fit.Digital media spaces such as YouTube, MySpace, Ning, and Break.com have made sharing video representations of personal stories a common practice. Creating and sharing videos is now relatively cheap and easy to accomplish, but the ability to tell compelling life stories using digital media is a far more complex practice to master than skill-based mastery of digital tools alone.
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