Negotiating critical, postcritical literacy: The problematic of text analysis

Abstract

Critical literacy has been a particular focus in literacy education in the past two decades. Literacy models such as the ‘four resources’ model provide a significant framework for a critical understanding of text and the social and cultural practices that inform them. In this paper, I draw on the ‘four resources’ model to argue that the success of the template in developing critical literacy depends upon focusing adequate analytic attention on those subjectivities employed in such practices. The intersubjective classroom dynamics and the subjective engagement of literacy practitioners are of equal importance in determining the meanings co-constructed among subjects. I argue that beyond being text analysts, reflective practitioners consisting of the teacher, and students as a group, can engage in postcritical negotiations of the text, contribute to new meaning possibilities, and adopt an on-going critical stance. Applying this literacy model successfully requires acceptance of a multiplicity of interpretations, collaborative practice between teachers and students, and fluid subject positions. The paper concludes by considering the problematic of the classroom as a dynamic site for textual and cultural contestation of multiple perspectives.