Landscapes of Specific Literacies in Contemporary Society: Exploring a social model of literacy

The notion of what constitutes ‘literacy’ has shifted over time, from the de-coding of words where it is placed in the realm of an individual, cognitive skill to multiple literacies in the 21st century. This volume celebrates and critiques literacy in various forms indicated by the scope of the chapters. It makes a timely contribution to our understanding of literacy as a multi-faceted, complexly situated activity. The contributing authors represent a wide variety of theoretical and research perspectives. Each chapter provides the reader with a fresh perspective into a different site for literate behaviour, approaches, design and relationships. Presented are illustrations of ways in which scholars are beginning to respond to the challenge and also underscore the viability of the concept of literacy for specific purposes. The central plank of this scholarly and innovative volume is that literacy curriculum would need to evolve from its current one-dimensional/discrete perspective if it is to cater for the demands of the 21st century contemporary globalised society.