Literacy in Three Metaphors

Scribner explains that other authors “suggest that literacy is a kind of reality that educators should be able to grasp and explain, or, expressed in more classical terms, that literacy has an ‘essence’ that can be captured through some Aristotelian-like enterprise” (7) But this diverges from Scribner’s point of view. He asks his readers to consider that “Most efforts at definitional determination are based on a conception of literacy as an attribute of individuals; they aim to describe constituents of literacy in terms of individual abilities.” (7) Scribner continues articulates that literacy does not have its roots in the individual but rather a community or society because individuals do not learn to read or write unless it is of cultural importance within the community. He argues that “the single most compelling fact about literacy is that it is a social achievement; individuals in societies without writing systems do not become literate. Literacy is an outcome of cultural transmission.” (7)

I think this contrasts with Carr’s view of literacy because he was writing in a much more personalized way. Carr wrote to come to terms with his own decrease in literacy due to technology. Hedges also looks at literacy from an individual level, by sighting past US Presidents and presidential candidates and their literacy rates.

Scribner however, separated literacy into three different meanings; literacy as adaptation, literacy as power, and literacy as a state of grace. He describes Literacy as Adaptation in terms of “functional literacy”. I see this as literacy that changes at about a third grade level of reading in which individuals adapt from learning how to read, to reading as a way of learning. Scribner then describes Literacy as Power in terms of societal advancement. In order for people in a society to continue their legacy after death, the ability to read and write is necessary. Literacy as a State of Grace is then described by Scribner as the essential need for religious teachings to be preserved.