A critical discourse analysis of racial(36)

Interestingly,theyenactracialliteracyasde nedbycriticalracetheorists(Guinier,2004)andwhitenessstudies

(Twine,2004).Thatis,theframeworkofracewasusedasalenstoexploresocial,historicalandinstitutionalprac-

tices(Bell,1992,2004;Guinier,2004).Criticalracetheoriststendtoemphasizetheinstitutionalprocessesoverthe

individual—focusingonthematerialoutcomesofraceasasocialmechanism.Fayemostconsistentlyaddresseda

racialframeworkfromthisstandpoint—althoughtheotherparticipantsdidhistoricizethebookandbringracisminto

thecurrentcontext.Racialliteracyasithasbeenarticulatedinwhitenessstudiesattendstothesocialandcultural

interactionsbetweenpeople.JennaandChelseytendedtoaddressracefromthestandpointofindividuals’interactions.

PerhapsFaye’sdiscomfortwithnamingtalkasaformofsocialactionstemsfromthelackofdifferencetalkhas

historicallymadearoundmattersofracismandracialinjustices.Itmightalsostemfromadesiretolocateactionin

economicandpoliticalstructuresthatimpactthedailyrealitiesofpeopleofcolor.Partofracialliteracy,then,forWhite

people,isunderstandinghowthehistoricalandmaterialrealitiesofracismcausepeopleofcolorfeelanurgencyabout

changethatmustmovebeyondthediscursiverealm.Ontheotherhand,Jenna’sstrongidenti cationwiththecharacter

wasbasedonherowngrowingactivismanddevelopinganti-racistidentity.ForJenna,talkingaboutmattersofrace

andracismwithherfriendsandfamilyisrisky—sheadmitshowdif cultitistogetanyuptakearoundracialmatters

fromtheWhitepeopleinherlife.Partofracialliteracyforpeopleofcolor,mightincluderecognitionofthedifferent

stepsWhitepeopletakeastheylearntobecomeananti-racist.Bothgroupsneedmultipleopportunitiestodialogueon

raceinbothintra-andinter-racialgroupsandtolearnmoreabouthistoricalandmaterialconditionsthatmakeracism

andanti-racismpossible.

Thus,ouranalysisleadsustoareconstructedframeworkforracialliteracy—onethatincludesperspectivesfrom

bothcriticalracetheoryandwhitenessstudies.Wereturntoourearlierdiscussion,drawingonGuinier(2004)and

Twine(2004),butaddtotheirde nitionstheroleofaction.Racialliteracyinvolvesasetoftools(psychological,

conceptual,discursive,material)whichindividuals(bothpeopleofcolorandWhitepeople)usetodescribe,interpret,

explainandactontheconstellationofpractices(e.g.historical,economic,psychological,interactional)thatcomprise

racismandanti-racism.Actionsincludeabroadarrayofelements—includingdiscussingracialissues,readingand

writingaboutracialissues,bringingcriticalliteracytotextsaboutracism,interruptingracismintalkandaction,and

educatingoneselfabouttheeconomicrealitiesofinstitutionalracism.Beyondthesepracticesthatwerepartofthebook

clubformatandotheracademicspaces,actionthroughparticipationinorganizedeventsaroundanti-racism,eventsthat

worktheintersectionbetweenanti-racismandinequitiesinlanguageeducation,immigration,schoolreform,human

rights,andenvironmentalissues.

Earlierworkwithteachersaroundissuesofraceandculturehasfocusedonthediscursiveconstructionofwhite

talkandstrategiesthatteachersusetoavoidconversationsaroundrace(e.g.CaseandHemmings,2005;deFrietas,

2005;Willis,2003).Wewouldarguethatthesearticlesdocumentsuchpracticeswithoutacloseexaminationofhow

whitetalkispartofthepatternsofpracticesofindividualswhoparticipateinsuchdiscussions.Further,thework

withteachersthatexaminesracialunderstandingthroughnarrativeshasoftenbeenlessattentivetothewaysthatthe

participantsusesuchnarrativesasoneofmanymultimodalresources.Forexample,howdopatternsinthecrossingand

re-crossingoflegs,theproxemicsofthegroup,andothernonverbalcuesmarkengagement,disengagement,orshifting

understandings?Ourprolongedengagementasteacher-researchersanddatacollectedacrossethnographiccontexts

alongwithourongoingteachingandresearchsuggeststhatweneedamorecomplicatedwayofunderstandingthe

workthatagroupofinter-racialpeopledotogetherasagroup,includingthemultimodalwork.

Our ndingsindicatethatracialliteracyincludesnotonlywhatissigni edthroughverbalandnonverbalmodes

butalsohowitissigni ed.Muchofracialliteracyoccursunderthesurfaceofwords,whichiswhyweturned

toaframeworkthatdrewfrommultimodaldiscourseanalysis(Norris,2004)andcriticaldiscourseanalysis(Fair-

clough,2004;Gee,1999/2006).Ideologiesaroundracearecommunicatedthroughwhatissaid(andnotsaid)as

搜索“diyifanwen.net”或“第一范文网”即可找到本站免费阅读全部范文。收藏本站方便下次阅读，第一范文网，提供最新人文社科A critical discourse analysis of racial(36)全文阅读和word下载服务。