Literacies are situated. All uses of written language can be seen as located in particular times and places. Equally, all literate activity is indicative of broader social practices. Situated Literacies is a rich and varied collection of key writings from leading international scholars in the field of literacy. Each contribution, written in a clear, accessible style, makes the link between literacies in specific contexts and broader social practices. Detailed ethnographic studies of a wide variety of specific situations, all involving real texts and lived practices, are balanced with general claims about the nature of literacy. Contributors address a coherent set of issues: * the visual and material aspects of literacy * concepts of time and space in relation to literacy * the functions of literacies in shaping and sustaining identities in communities of practice * the relationship between texts and the practices associated with their use * the role of discourse analysis on literacy studies.
These studies, along with a foreword by Denny Taylor, make a timely and important contribution to understanding the ways in which literacy practices are part of a broader social process and suggest directions for the further development of literacy studies. Situated Literacies is essential reading for anyone involved in literacy education.