Literacy in Composition Studies Mar 2013 RSS Open Access

Sponsoring Literacy Studies

Morris Young University of Wisconsin–Madison

Abstract

In this short essay, I want to consider, first, how literacy studies as a field has been sponsored—What work has been foundational, transformative, and innovative?—and second, to reflect on how my own study of literacy has been sponsored. In particular, I want to think about how Brandt’s concept of “sponsorship” has not only been transformative in conceptualizing the dynamics of literacy, but how it is also useful in addressing questions of equity and diversity within literacy studies. As defined by Brandt, “sponsors of literacy” are “any agents, local or distant, concrete or abstract, who enable, support, teach, and model, as well as recruit, regulate, suppress, or withhold, literacy—and gain advantage by it in some way” (19). It is the first part of this definition that is key to my discussion: How have sponsors who “enable, support, teach, and model” informed what we do as a field broadly, and what I have done in my own work specifically? In theorizing a deep understanding of how literacy is enacted, Brandt has helped us to see that literacy does not simply empower or provide access to resources for individuals, but perhaps most importantly creates a complex web of relationships that may sustain literate action. We might think of sponsorship itself as a literacy practice and as literate action, marshalling resources in order to create opportunities for literacy development.

Journal
Literacy in Composition Studies
Published
2013-03-01
DOI
10.21623/1.1.1.3
CompPile
Open Access
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Citation context

Cited by in this index (9)

  1. Byrd et al. (2021)
    Against Autonomous Literacies: Extending the Work of Brian V. Street: Introduct…
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  3. Cella et al. (2014)
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  4. Goldblatt (2013)
    Locating Ourselves and Our Work
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  5. Kynard (2013)
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  1. Salvatori (2013)
    New Literacy Studies: Some Matters of Concern
    Literacy in Composition Studies
  2. Goldblatt (2013)
    Locating Ourselves and Our Work
    Literacy in Composition Studies
  3. Kynard (2013)
    Literacy/Literacies Studies and the Still-Dominant White Center
    Literacy in Composition Studies
  4. Salvatori (2013)
    New Literacy Studies: Some Matters of Concern
    Literacy in Composition Studies

References (28) · 2 in this index

  1. Brandt, Deborah. Literacy as Involvement: The Acts of Writers, Readers, and Texts. Carbondale: Southern Illin…
  2. ---. Literacy in American Lives. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 2001. Print.
  3. Daniell (1999)
    Narratives of Literacy: Connecting Composition to Culture
    College Composition and Communication
  4. Gere, Anne Ruggles. Intimate Practices: Literacy and Cultural Work in U.S. Women's Clubs, 1880-1920. Urbana: …
  5. Goody, Jack and Ian P. Watt. “The Consequences of Literacy.” Perspectives on Literacy. Ed. Eugene R. Kintgen,…
Show all 28 →
  1. Graff, Harvey. The Literacy Myth: Literacy and Social Structure in the Nineteenth-Century City. New York: Aca…
  2. ---. The Legacies of Literacy: Continuities and Contradictions in Western Culture and Society. Bloomington: I…
  3. ---. The Labyrinths of Literacy: Reflections on Literacy Past and Present. Pittsburgh: University of Pittsbur…
  4. Havelock, Eric. Origins of Western Literacy. Toronto: Ontario Institute for Studies in Education, 1976. Print.
  5. Heath, Shirley Brice. Ways with Words: Language, Life, and Work in Communities and Classrooms. Cambridge, UK …
     ↗
  6. Royster, Jacqueline Jones. Traces of a Stream: Literacy and Social Change Among African American Women. Pitts…
     ↗
  7. Scribner, Sylvia and Michael Cole. The Psychology of Literacy. Cambridge, MA: Harvard UP, 1981. Print.
     ↗
  8. Street, Brian V., Ed. Cross-Cultural Approaches to Literacy. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge UP, 1993. Print. Cambri…
  9. ---. Social Literacies: Critical Approaches to Literacy in Development, Ethnography, and Education. London an…
  10. Brandt, Deborah.Literacy as Involvement: The Acts of Writers, Readers, and Texts. Carbondale: Southern Illino…
     ↗
  11. ---.Literacy in American Lives. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 2001. Print.
     ↗
  12. Daniell (1999)
    Narratives of Literacy: Connecting Composition to Culture
    College Composition and Communication
  13. Gere, Anne Ruggles.Intimate Practices: Literacy and Cultural Work in U.S. Women's Clubs, 1880-1920. Urbana: U…
     ↗
  14. Goody, Jack and Ian P. Watt. “The Consequences of Literacy.”Perspectives on Literacy. Ed. Eugene R. Kintgen, …
     ↗
  15. Graff, Harvey.The Literacy Myth: Literacy and Social Structure in the Nineteenth-Century City.New York: Acade…
     ↗
  16. ---.The Legacies of Literacy: Continuities and Contradictions in Western Culture and Society. Bloomington: In…
     ↗
  17. ---.The Labyrinths of Literacy: Reflections on Literacy Past and Present. Pittsburgh: University of Pittsburg…
     ↗
  18. Havelock, Eric.Origins of Western Literacy. Toronto: Ontario Institute for Studies in Education, 1976. Print.
     ↗
  19. Heath, Shirley Brice. Ways with Words: Language, Life, and Work in Communities and Classrooms. Cambridge, UK …
     ↗
  20. Royster, Jacqueline Jones.Traces of a Stream: Literacy and Social Change Among African American Women. Pittsb…
     ↗
  21. Scribner, Sylvia and Michael Cole.The Psychology of Literacy. Cambridge, MA:  Harvard UP, 1981. Print.
     ↗
  22. Street, Brian V., Ed.Cross-Cultural Approaches to Literacy. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge UP, 1993. Print. Cambrid…
     ↗
  23. ---.Social Literacies: Critical Approaches to Literacy in Development, Ethnography, and Education. London and…
     ↗
CrossRef global citation count: 4 View in citation network → Build reading path →

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