Mapping Multiple Literacies - An Introduction to Deleuzian Literacy Studies

MappingMultiple Literaciesbrings together the latest theory and research in the fields of literacy studyand European philosophy, Multiple Literacies Theory (MLT) and the philosophicalwork of Gilles Deleuze. It frames the process of becoming literate as a fluidprocess involving multiple modes of presentation, and explains these processesin terms of making maps of our social lives and ways of doing things together.For Deleuze, language acquisition is a social activityof which we are a part, but only one partamongst many others..Masny and Cole draw on Deleuze's thinking to expand the repertoires of literacyresearch and understanding. They outline how we can understand literacy as asocial activity and map the ways in which becoming literate may take hold andtransform communities. The chapters in this book weave together theory, dataand practice to open up a creative new area of literacy studies and to provokevigorous debate about the sociology of literacy.Table of Content1. Introduction to Mapping Multiple Literacies; 2. Cartographies of Multiple Literacies (MLT); 3. Mapping Literacies with Affect; 4. Groups Talking - Collective Enunciation; 5. What is Reading? How Does Reading Happen?; 6. Mapping Power and Literacies; 7. Mapping the Literacy of Digital Futures; 8. Conclusion; References; Index.Review QuoteRarely does a book capture my attention as this one has done. Mapping Multiple Literacies: An Introduction to Deleuzian Literacy Studies is a treatise of great proportions that is both accessible and useful in terms of what the literacy teacher, researcher, and theorist will find interesting. It is a book that will grace the syllabi of several courses I teach in the Department of Language and Literacy Education at the University of Georgia.Review Quote[The authors present] a good balance between literacy practices and theories, as well as Deleuzian literacy. Their mapping offers a dynamic illustration of Deleuze's plane of immanence. Deleuzian concepts are strongly re-territorialized within the ‘geography' of multiple literacies including text, power, media, affect, groups and pedagogical relationships . A good introduction to how Deleuze operates and a strong contribution to what Deleuze brings to literacy. Teachers and scholars will benefit from this creative articulation.Review QuoteMasny and Cole offer an innovative and entertaining perspective on literacy studies, from the novel perspective of Gilles Deleuze's philosophy. Deleuze has been more often associated with literary studies, but Masny and Cole mine his theories of affect and difference to illuminate the multiplicity of subjectivities and practices associated with literacy. The result is an intriguing tour amongst the diverse ideas about the field, as their Deleuzian map unfolds.Biographical NoteDavid R. Cole is Senior Lecturer in Literacy, English Education and Professional Studies at the University of Technology, Sydney, Australia. Diana Masny is Professor of Education and the director of the Multiple Literacies Research Unit at the Faculty of Education at the University of Ottowa, Canada.Research based new approach to understanding literacy as a process and a social practice, drawing on the philosophy of Gilles Deleuze.Offers a philosophical (Deleuzian) framework for understanding and researching literacyBrings together latest research in literacy study and European philosophyCombines theoretical and empirical approaches to offer new perspectives on the sociology of literacyConcludes with recommendations and implications for curriculum and government policy