Multimodality and critical race theory as tools of canonical subversion

Abstract

ABSTRACT Research has called for nuanced scholarly investigations that synergise, complicate, and advance social theories of literacy. Accordingly, this study melds critical literacy, critical race theory, and multiliteracies to distil students’ involvement with the canonical The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, investigating: What are participants’ design experiences reading canonical literature through a critical race theory lens, and what does multimodal design reveal about students’ critical literacies? Design reflects both understanding and meaning making using multiple sign systems. Applying case study methodologies, researchers investigated the experiences of 24 eleventh-grade students in an American literature course. Layers of inductive and deductive analysis reveal two findings specific to students’ experiences with multiliteracies: successes with literal transmediation and barriers to imaginative transmediation. Findings were then deductively treated with tenets of critical literacy and critical race theory, revealing that students identified Whiteness as property while simultaneously participating in Colour-evasion and upholding White saviour traditions. Implications for theory, research, and pedagogy are discussed.