No. 23 (12): Reading and writing practices. Subjects, materialities, literacities. July-December 2021

Throughout the ages, reading and writing practices have been intrinsically linked to large-scale civilization processes. Rituals, canons, devices, appropriation processes, as well as the  dynamics that influence and tend to model them, become an object of study that helps us understand the cultural projects of entire societies. Given their complexity, analyzing them requires interdisciplinary theoretical approaches and diverse methodological frameworks.

The significant transformations of these practices, linked to the exponential growth of information and the ubiquitous presence of digital technologies, raise questions of extreme relevance for educational research: we are witnessing changes in the physical supports for reading and writing, a diversification in the publishing and consumption rationales, a preeminence of audiovisual language in the production of contents and the expression of ideas, combinations of textual genres, as well as different perceptual schemes, ethical requirements and forms of authorship. We are also witnesses to a decline of old hierarchies and referents, as well as in the habits, rhythms, times and spaces previously regarded as conducive to reading and writing.

Within the school environment, we can identify relevant transitions at different levels: teaching and learning processes, educational modalities, ways of managing teaching, performance assessment, institutional frameworks and structures, as well as the uses and appropriations of different technical devices for the management of information and production of knowledge. Other de-centerings take place in occupational spaces, namely those where reading and writing practices are subjected to institutional regulations – whether implied or explicit ones – since they are often viewed as indicators of professional competencies. Gradually, certain vernacular reading and writing practices that emerge and develop outside institutional environments are being reshaped. Such practices are self-generated after individual or group motivations, which are not subjected to rigid rules and canons. They may be as varied as the aims that animate them and the contexts in which they take place. Often undervalued, they nevertheless acquire great importance for the analysis of culture.

On the other hand, the progressive intersection of popular culture contents and scientific texts promotes an increasing hybridization of practices. This social phenomenon becomes evident in the forms of production and reception of textual materials with procedures that are characteristic of the hypertext, as well as in the growing mediation of digital platforms governed by algorithms where a significant number of data base consultations take place, either social networking ones or those regarded as professional or academic, which may in turn lead to social interactions between the individuals who read and write in them. Issue Coordinators: Diana Sagástegui Rodríguez, Yolanda González de la Torre & Myrna Carolina Huerta