Multimodality and critical race theory as tools of canonical subversion

ABSTRACT

Research has called for nuanced scholarly investigations that synergise, complicate, and advance social theories of literacy. Accordingly, this study melds critical literacy, critical race theory, and multiliteracies to distil students’ involvement with the canonical The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, investigating: What are participants’ design experiences reading canonical literature through a critical race theory lens, and what does multimodal design reveal about students’ critical literacies? Design reflects both understanding and meaning making using multiple sign systems. Applying case study methodologies, researchers investigated the experiences of 24 eleventh-grade students in an American literature course. Layers of inductive and deductive analysis reveal two findings specific to students’ experiences with multiliteracies: successes with literal transmediation and barriers to imaginative transmediation. Findings were then deductively treated with tenets of critical literacy and critical race theory, revealing that students identified Whiteness as property while simultaneously participating in Colour-evasion and upholding White saviour traditions. Implications for theory, research, and pedagogy are discussed.

KEYWORDS:

• Multimodality
• multiliteracies
• critical race theory
• curriculum theory
• canonical literature

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Supplementary material

Supplemental data for this article can be accessed online at https://doi.org/10.1080/04250494.2024.2361032.

Notes

1. The Institutional Review Board at NAME University fully approved this study (ID 17–230). At the start of the unit, Author 1 read, explained, and distributed forms to students. Students and their guardians elected to participate in the study by both signing and returning the consent form.

Additional information

Funding

The author(s) reported there is no funding associated with the work featured in this article.

Notes on contributors

Jeanne Dyches

Dr. Jeanne Dyches, associate professor at Iowa State University, examines applications of critical disciplinary literacies in secondary classrooms and tensions and synergies between canonical curricula and critical pedagogies. Dr. Dyches is interested in better understanding how practitioners teach canonical texts in disciplinary-specific, justice-oriented ways. Her work has been published in journals such as English Education, Harvard Educational Review, Journal of Curriculum Studies, Journal of Teacher Education, and Journal of Adolescent and Adult Literacy. Various organizations have recognized the quality of her research and teaching.

Emily Howell

Dr. Emily Howell is an Assistant Professor in Literacy at Clemson University. Emily has taught English and writing at the secondary and collegiate level and currently teaches pre-service teachers and graduate students in education. She works with the local site Upstate Writing Project of the National Writing Project. Her research interests include multiliteracies, adolescent literacy, writing instruction, multilingual learners, and digital tools. Emily approaches research through partnerships with teachers using methodologies such as design-based research. Her research has been published in journals such as Reading Research Quarterly, Journal of Literacy Research, The Reading Teacher, and Professional Development in Education. Emily is currently the Co-Principal Investigator on two large U.S. Department of Education grants developing school district capacity to support multilingual learners.

Deani Thomas

Dr. Deani Thomas, Director of Special Education at Ames CSD, examines critical curriculum development, evaluation, and selection approaches. Her work has been published in journals such as the Journal of Curriculum Studies, English Education, AASA Journal of Scholarship & Practice, and Journal of Interdisciplinary Teacher Leadership.

Amy Updegraff

Amy Updegraff is an assistant professor of education at Upper Iowa University in Des Moines, IA. Before working as a graduate and teaching assistant at Iowa State Amy spent nearly 15 years in K-5 classrooms. Amy hopes to better understand how elementary teachers can use digital tools to support their students’ disciplinary literacy skills in a variety of ways.