The Labyrinths Of Literacy

A compelling collection by one of the pioneers of revisionist approaches to the history of literacy in North America and Europe, The Labyrinths of Literacy offers original and controversial views on the relation of literacy to society, leading the way for scholars and citizens who are willing to question the importance and function of literacy in the development of society today.

Written to provide students with a broad introduction to knowledge about literacy learning and teaching. It presents a comprehensive range of current and classical theoretical perspectives in a balanced yet challenging way. Suitable for graduates wishing to update their knowledge.

This book provides a critical account of the development of questions, approaches, methods, and understandings of literacy within and across disciplines and interdisciplines. It provides a critique of literacy studies, including the New Literacy Studies. This book completes a series that the author began in the 1970s. It criticizes and revises the New Literacy Studies and how we think about literacy generally. It is a revisionist study which argues that literacy and literacy studies are historical developments and must be understood in those terms to comprehend their profound impact on our traditions of thinking about and understanding literacy, and how we study it. Graff argues that literacy studies in its academic, institutional, and policy forums, but also in popular parlance, has lost its critical foundations, and this hinders efforts to promote literacy. He examines literacy over time and across linguistics; anthropology; psychology; reading and writing across modes of communication and comprehension; “new” literacies across digital, visual, performance, numerical, and scientific domains; and history. He underscores the value of new directions of negotiation and translation. This book will interest scholars and students in the many fields that constitute literacy studies across the humanities, social sciences, education, and beyond.

In his latest writings on the history of literacy and its importance for present understanding and future rethinking, historian Harvey J. Graff continues his critical revisions of many commonly held ideas about literacy. The book speaks to central concerns about the place of literacy in modern and late-modern culture and society, and its complicated historical foundations.Drawing on other aspects of his research, Graff places the chapters that follow in the context of current thinking and major concerns about literacy, and the development of both historical and interdisciplinary studies. Special emphasis falls upon the usefulness of "the literacy myth" as an important subject for interdisciplinary study and understanding. Critical stock-taking of the field includes reflections on Graff's own research and writings of the last three decades, and the relationships that connect interdisciplinary rethinking and the literacy myth.The collection is noteworthy for its attention to Graff's reflections on his identification of "the literacy myth" and in developing LiteracyStudies@OSU (Ohio State University) as a model for university-wide interdisciplinary programs. It also deals with ordinary concerns about literacy, or illiteracy, that are shared by academics and concerned citizens. These nontechnical essays will speak to both academic and nonacademic audiences across disciplines and cultural orientations.

The 2nd Edition of Reconceptualizing Literacy in the New Age of Multiculturalism and Pluralism honors the genius of Dr. Peter Mosenthal. His contributions to the field of literacy were unprecedented. Many described him as a superb researcher who never lost sight of the purpose of education. He made us laugh as he led us in a nursery rhyme song during his National Reading Conference (LRA) Presidential Address and made us think as he explained the significance of educational implications in all research articles. He also mentored and taught graduate students in gentle and carefully attentive ways, showing his respect and appreciation for the work of each individual in the field. He was a remarkable person. The second edition of this book includes many experienced and new scholars from around the world. Qualitative and quantitative research methodologies are scattered throughout and the practical and theoretical are well represented. New Literacies and Global Perspectives are added sections in this volume. In this era of the “Common Core”, Reconceptualizing Literacy in the New Age of Multiculturalism and Pluralism, presents a rational educational balance for literacy development across the curriculum.