What does it mean to be literate?
Merriam-Webster defines literate as “able to read and write.” This definition of literate resides in Flatland, a place that Nick Sousanis (2015), author of “Unflattening,” describes as a land of confinement, conformity, standardization, and one-dimensional thought and behavior. Any potential in these inhabitants has been curtailed and “the wonder of what might be” has been forgotten (p. 7).
To understand what literacy really is, we must unflatten this one-dimensional definition. What does it mean to be able to read a language? And what good is reading or writing if we do not make meaning of it? One can read written text such as a book, the symbols in an equation, or a Facebook post. One can also read artwork, Youtube videos, or musical performances. Literacy is multi-dimensionsal. It encompasses the written, visual, auditory, and the technological, and its meaning is derived from our individual comprehension of it in specific contexts and purposes. Thus, literacy is the mastering and application of multiple Discourses for the purpose of effectively communicating.
What is a Discourse? James Paul Gee (1990) defines a Discourse as a “socially accepted association among ways of using language, of thinking, and of acting that can be used to identify oneself as a member of a socially meaningful group or a social network (p. 142).” A Discourse is a particular identity that possesses unique ways of talking, acting, interacting, thinking and valuing in particular environments (Gee, 2015, p. 93). Individuals have primary and secondary Discourses, the difference being how one does the above in environments in order to be recognized as family (primary) versus a person in a larger public (secondary) (Gee, 2015, p. 95). Examples of secondary Discourses include academia, churches, workplaces, restaurants, etc.
We can have many, sometimes conflicting, Discourses. These Discourses affect the way we connect to and interpret language. We rely on our embodied experiences, or events that have been edited and stored in our minds (Gee, 2015, p. ), to connect and give meaning to certain situations. I am reminded of the childrens’ book “Amelia Bedelia.” In this story, Amelia the maid, is asked to perform a series of tasks as a substitute, such as calling roll (Parish, 1963, p.16). Amelia, clearly inexperienced with the language and behaviors of this Discourse (school), literally calls “hey!” to a bread roll. When we have not mastered a specific Discourse, like Amelia, or our Discourses do not align, we are labeled illiterate.
If you were asked to join a dance class, how would the degree to which you belong to that specific Discourse affect your actions? Would you know the proper clothes to wear? Would you know the proper terminology, the way to interact with the choreographer, or the social norms of a dance class? I personally know these things as a dancer, but if you do not, you could be considered illiterate in this sense because you have not mastered this particular Discourse.
The implication of labeling individuals as illiterate for lack of specific knowledge is evident in schools. Students that cannot read written text or write in a formal, academic way are labeled illiterate. But is this accurate or fair? I already mentioned that literacy is multi-dimensional. Why do we value the ability to read a written text over the ability to read a visual text? Both include a process of looking, observing, seeing, describing, analyzing, and interpreting (Toledo Museum of Art, 2017).
To answer, it is not enough to merely focus on the differences in Discourses and their social literary practices, but the differences in power among everyone’s literacies (Brandt, 2001, p.561). This is where the application of multiple Discourses for effective communication comes into play. To be literate, one must be critically concious — taking a text, connecting it to the world, and using it for the purpose of empowerment (Friere, 2001, p.106). We do this through constant questioning: why? how? Sousanis (2015) believes that, “When we stop questioning, we become transfixed as if by Medusa’s gaze rendered inanimate, flat (p.110).” To be critically literate, one must avoid becoming unmoving and flat and continuously change their point of view, question, and challenge the status quo. In such a way one can become more aware and able to take constructive action.
References
Freire, P. (2001). The Paulo Freire reader. New York: Continuum.
Gee, J.P. (1990). Social Linguistics and Literacies: Ideology in Discourses, Critical Perspectives on Literacy and Education. London: Routledge.
Gee, J. P. (2015). Literacy and education. New York: Routledge.
Parish, P. (1963 ). Amelia Bedelia. New York: Harper Collins.
Sousanis, N. (2015). Unflattening. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Toledo Art Museum. (2017). The Art of Seeing Art. Retrieved May 25, 2017, from http://www.vislit.org/the-art-of-seeing-art/.
