Studies of Literacy over Time and across Disciplines

Abstract

An exhaustive study of literacy in human society over time and space would require many volumes. A thorough examination of the many debates that have been generated by the study of literacy and literacy development in different historical periods and in different societies is not possible in a publication of this size. However, a broad review of the terrain makes it possible to reflect on recurring themes across different historical and cultural contexts and to challenge fixed ideas about what it is to be literate and how people become literate. Different historical and cross-cultural perspectives demonstrate that approaches used to study literacy are themselves products of specific times and places and continually need to be reviewed and re-evaluated as cultures, societies and their literacy technologies change over time.