Literacies, Power and Identities in Figured Worlds in Malawi by Dr Ahmmardouh Mj

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This book is based on an in-depth ethnographic study of the National Adult Literacy Programme (NALP) in Malawi. It highlights the significance of exploring power and identity in literacy studies. Employing the concept of 'figured worlds' to study literacy as a social practice, the book focuses on understanding power relationships and identities in literacy practices. It illustrates how literacy identities and power relationships of some local community members continuously vary from one context to another and, in some cases, even within the same context. Using notions such as agency, artefact, resistance, shame and positioning, the book demonstrates the potential of the concept of figured worlds to address some of the questions raised within the New Literacy Studies – especially those concerning power and identity.The book also illustrates the value of an ethnographic approach in adult literacy studies, by exploring the challenges faced by the researcher in gaining access to community members' activities, and the opportunity to experience first-hand what instructors go through in facilitating adult literacy lessons.

FORMATPaperback LANGUAGEEnglish CONDITIONBrand New Author Biography

Ahmmardouh Mjaya is Lecturer in African Languages and Linguistics and a Ciyawo Language Specialist at Chancellor College, University of Malawi, Malawi.

Table of Contents

Series Editor Foreword1. Research Background and Context2. Literacy as a Social Practice: Exploring Theoretical Issues3. Using Ethnography to Study Community Members' Literacy Practicesin their Everyday Life4. Literacy Practices in Community Members' Lived Worlds5. Identities and Power in Reading and Writing Spaces6. The Adult Literacy Class: A Site of Power Struggle7. Mbecete m'Ciyawo: Matters of Language8. Conclusions and Implications for Researching Literacy as a Social PracticeReferencesIndex

Review

Mjaya's research provides valuable reading for literacy theorists and practitioners alike. ... [the] hope is that this book will inspire those engaged in literacy work with adults to renew their commitment to exploring new approaches to their fundamentally important task, complex though it is. * International Review of Education *This book will be a rich and interesting source for students of international development, adult learning and literacy. It makes for accessible reading for policy-makers and teachers, as well as being a useful guide for others planning to carry out ethnographic studies in international settings. As a study by an African scholar of an under-researched country it is ground-breaking and illuminating. As long as literacy continues to be a focus of international agencies and funding, it is essential that policy learns from such studies. * Mary Hamilton, Emeritus Professor, Lancaster University, UK *Mjaya renews theoretical and methodological perspectives on social studies of literacy with an exceptionally detailed ethnographic insight into the everyday literacy of adult learners in rural Malawi. The book challenges some of conventions of Western-dominated anthropology in a highly reflexive discussion of the meaning of "being there" while also carving a new space for Africa's qualitative socialsciences in their engagement with national policies. -- Yann Lebeau, University of East Anglia, UK

Promotional

Based on an ethnographic study in a village in Malawi, the book focuses on understanding power relationships and identity in literacy practices using the concept of 'figured worlds'.

Review Quote

"This book will be a rich and interesting source for students of international development, adult learning and literacy. It makes for accessible reading for policy-makers and teachers, as well as being a useful guide for others planning to carry out ethnographic studies in international settings. As a study by an African scholar of an under-researched country it is ground-breaking and illuminating. As long as literacy continues to be a focus of international agencies and funding, it is essential that policy learns from such studies." -- Mary Hamilton, Emeritus Professor, Lancaster University, UK

Promotional "Headline"

Based on an ethnographic study in a village in Malawi, the book focuses on understanding power relationships and identity in literacy practices using the concept of 'figured worlds'.

Feature

Draws on ten months of ethnographic fieldwork, providing detailed analyses of community members' literacy identities and power relations in diverse contexts

Details ISBN1350296171 Pages 184 Language English Year 2023 ISBN-10 1350296171 ISBN-13 9781350296176 Format Paperback Publication Date 2023-09-21 DEWEY 374.0124096897 Imprint Bloomsbury Academic Author Dr Ahmmardouh Mjaya UK Release Date 2023-09-21 Place of Publication London Country of Publication United Kingdom Illustrations 17 bw illus AU Release Date 2023-09-21 NZ Release Date 2023-09-21 Publisher Bloomsbury Publishing PLC Series Adult Learning, Literacy and Social Change Audience Tertiary & Higher Education We've got this

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