The Role of Identity and Imagination in the Literate Practices of Adolescent Girls: Four Case Studies From India
Abstract
The purpose of this qualitative case study is to explore the literacy practices of marginalized adolescent youth in India and the relationship of those practices to imagination and identity construction. More than just tools for communication, language and literary practices allow individuals to express their selves and identities as they voice their thoughts, negotiate meaning (Dyson & Genishi, 2005; Gee, 2003), and enact themselves within society (Janks, 2010; New London Group, 1996). This qualitative case study took place in Lucknow, India; the subjects were a group of adolescent girls at a nonprofit all-girls school in a seventh-grade classroom. Drawing upon Vygotsky’s work on imagination, new literacy practices (New London Group, 1996), and a social constructivist approach to understanding identity, this study looks specifically at the multimodal literacy practices of youth and their ability to communicate expressions of the self. At the center of this study is the question: How do adolescent girls from an economically disadvantaged population in Northern India use literate practices to negotiate and express identity that is both imagined as well as actual? To answer this question, I collected data in the form of student compositions, formal and informal interviews, and observational notes. Using discourse analysis, the data revealed the ways in which the girls used literacy to agentively position themselves as actual selves in their societies, as imagined social selves and others, in relationship to social others, and in imagined events.
Degree
Ph.D.
Advisors
Alsup, Purdue University.
Subject Area
Design|Cognitive psychology|Developmental psychology|Education|Educational evaluation|Educational sociology|Educational tests & measurements|Individual & family studies|Political science|Psychology|Social structure|Sociology|South Asian Studies
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