Literacy Networks: Following the Circulation of Texts, Bodies, and Objects in the Schooling and Online Gaming of One Youth

Abstract

In this article, we offer an approach to conceiving of the relation between literacy practices and space–time. Literacy, embedded in other forms of activity, has a unique role in producing and organizing space–time relations, and such relations provide for different forms of cognition and learning. Closely examining how literacy practices produce and organize space–time helps researchers move beyond folk distinctions based on setting or context, such as "in school," versus "out of school," which necessarily associate different settings with different practices. Drawing on actor network theory, we propose a new way of reconceiving of literacy and its relations to space–time through the construct of the literacy network. We define and develop 5 space–time dimensions of literacy networks, including translation, the heterogeneity of space–time representations, movements and positions of texts in circulation, rhythms and speeds of circulation, and network continuity. Drawing on these dimensions, we analyze 3 different literacy networks that 1 youth, Brian, participates in, including 2 from school classrooms and 1 from his play of a massively multiplayer online game. We argue that the space–time dimensions of these networks have direct relevance to understanding Brian's engagement, agency, and identity.