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.
Foreword Shirley Brice Heath ix
Acknowledgments xiii
1 Introduction 1
2 Many Literacies: Reading Signs of the Times 15
3 The Literacy Myth, co-authored with John Duffy 35
4 The Literacy Myth at Thirty 49
5 Assessing the History of Literacy: Themes and Questions 83
6 National Literacy Campaigns and Movements: Historical and Comparative Perspectives-Introduction to the Transaction Edition, co-authored with Robert F. Arnove 105
7 Literacy Studies and Interdisciplinary Studies: Reflections on History and Theory 111
8 LiteracyStudies@OSU as Theory and Practice 141
9 Bibliography of the History of Literacy in Western Europe and North America 179
Overview
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 ...