Literacy constants in a context of contemporary change

ABSTRACT

In a time of significant change, it can be useful to explore what remains constant in literate behaviours. This article follows Oatley’s suggestion that looking at the psychological function of a literate event is more productive than worrying about the analogue/digital divide. Starting with the activity of learning to read, it investigates recreational reading, literary reading and Wolf’s concept of deep reading, looks at how any of these may be enhanced by a critical perspective, and contrasts them all with the conversational reading of social media.

KEYWORDS:

• Recreational reading
• literary reading
• deep reading
• critical reading
• conversational reading

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada [435-2015-0175].

Notes on contributors

Margaret Mackey

Margaret Mackey is Professor Emerita in the School of Library and Information Studies at the University of Alberta.