Literacy and Identity: Examining the Metaphors in History and Contemporary Research

Abstract

In this review, the authors interrogate the recent identity turn in literacy studies by asking, How do particular views of identity shape how researchers think about literacy and, conversely, how does the view of literacy taken by a researcher shape meanings made about identity? To address this question, the authors review various ways of conceptualizing identity by using five metaphors for identity documented in the identity literature: Identity as (a) difference, (b) sense of self/subjectivity, (c) mind or consciousness, (d) narrative, and (e) position. Few literacy studies acknowledge this range of perspectives on and views for conceptualizing identity, and yet, subtle differences in identity theories have widely different implications for how one thinks about both how literacy matters to identity and how identity matters to literacy. They offer this review to encourage more theorizing of both literacy and identity as social practices and, most important, of how the two breathe life into each other. تلخيص البحث:في هذه المراجعة يستجوب المؤلفون انعطاف الهوية المؤخر في دراسات تعليم معرفة القراءة والكتابة بطرح السؤال: كيف تشكل وجهات نظر معينة من الهوية الطريقة التي يفكر فيها الباحثون عن معرفة القراءة والكتابة وعلى نقيض من ذلك، كيف تشكل وجهة النظر هذه من معرفة القراءة والكتابة المأخوذة من باحث ما المعاني عن الهوية. ومن أجل معالجة هذا السؤال، يراجع المؤلفون طرقاً مختلفة لتصور الهوية بواسطة خمسة تعابير مجازية للهوية المسجلة في أدب الهوية وهي: الهوية كـ (ا) الاختلاف و(ب) حاسة النفس/الموضوعية و(ج) الذهن أو الوعي و(د) النثر و(ي) الموقف. ويعترف قليل من دراسات معرفة القراءة والكتابة بمدى وجهات التظر عن تصور الهوية ومع ذلك فأن اختلافات دقيقة في نظريات هوية لها أعقاب مختلفة بشأن الطريقة التي يفكر المرء فيها عن أهمية معرفة القراءة والكتابة للهوية والعكس أي أهمية الهوية لمعرفة القراءة والكتابة. ويقدمون هذه المراجعة لتشجيع تنظير معرفة القراءة والكتابة والهوية كممارسات اجتماعية وأهم من ذلك الطريقة التي يُنَفِّس فيها كلاهما الحياة في الآخر. 在本评论中，作者就近今读写文化研究中之身份认同转向现象提出以下两个问题：某些特殊的身份认同观点如何塑造研究人员对读写文化的想法？反过来说，研究人员对读写文化所持的观点又如何塑造身份认同的意义？为回答这两个问题，作者探究有关身份认同的文献，并使用五种隐喻来归纳出文献中五种身份认同概念化的方式：身份认同就是：差异、自我∕主体感觉、意或意识、叙述、定位。很少有关读写文化的研究承认有这一系列的身份认同观点及身份认同概念化的看法。然而，各身份认同理论之间的微妙差异，却对我们考量读写文化与身份认同对彼此之重要性这些问题上带来极不一样的启示。本评论旨在鼓励更多有关视读写文化与身份认同为社会实践的理论研究，尤其至为重要的，是有关这两者如何为彼此赋予生机的理论研究。 Dans cette revue de question, les auteurs examinent le récent changement d'identité dans les études de littératie en se demandant comment des conceptions particulières de l'identité façonnent la façon dont les chercheurs considèrent l'identité et, réciproquement, comment la conception de la littératie qu'adopte un chercheur façonne la façon dont il conçoit l'identité. Pour traiter cette question, les auteurs passent en revue différentes façons de conceptualiser l'identité en utilisant cinq métaphores de l'identité que l'on peut trouver dans la littérature sur l'identité: l'identité comme (a) différence, (b) sentiment de soi/subjectivité, (c) esprit ou conscience, (d) narration, et (e) position. Quelques études de littératie reconnaissent cet ensemble de perspec...

“A close read of my classroom”: Teacher research and identity work

“…This more recent work informs our understanding that teachers have multiple identities which are socially constructed and reconstructed through the negotiation of everyday interactions (Erickson, 2004;Freedman & Appleman, 2008;Moje & Luke, 2009). Thus, scholars view teachers' identities as a construction of values, beliefs, and attitudes from teachers' personal lives as well as understandings from their professional practice.…”

“…More recently, scholars in the fields of psychology, anthropology, and sociology have challenged these previous notions and defined identity using words like fluid, multiple, and dynamic (Fairbanks et al, 2010;Holland, Skinner, Lachicotte, & Cain, 1998). The term "identities" is now often preferred among certain circles because it signals the idea that one person enacts many different identities both across and within a variety of contexts (Moje & Luke, 2009). …”

Performing the Self in the Mainstream

“…The purpose of this investigation is to contribute to the theoretical development of the performing identity as self (Moje & Luke 2009) in online-based settings, rather than to provide a generalizable description of teenage female bloggers in Norway. Purposive sampling (Lincoln & Guba 1985) was used to select a strategic sample conducive for understanding and developing concepts that would provide explanations of the investigated phenomena.…”

“…Moreover, I conceptualize the term "pink blogger" as an identity label (Moje & Luke 2009), which represents a gendered discourse that positions girls' participation in mainstream blogging in mostly negative ways. On the basis of my critical discourse analysis of Norwegian press articles (Dmitrow-Devold 2013), I argue that this label reflects the disparagement of feminized media genres that media studies (Gray 1992, Herring et al 2004) have documented: it positions mainstream female bloggers as homogenously superficial.…”

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“…The theoretical framework for the article is hermeneutic with a sociocultural and socio-constructivist view of identity, where language is situated in the social milieu and is the medium for expressing feelings, identity and development (Barton 2007;Moje et al 2009). Studies that have been conducted on identity-shaping have most often been based on otherness, an 'us' and 'them' perspective, where some criteria that are characteristic of a group contribute to separating people and creating different identities (Goffman 1990).…”