Saturday, February 2, 2013
Literacy is so often about power relationships. There's so much of it going on in Hunter. I find the book to be very descriptive and interesting. I visualize the structure of the hotel because I travel so much, and my daughter works for an international hotel chain, so we've discussed this a little bit. I hadn't really thought about power relationships in literacy, but all the readings make me think about literacy relationships in office environments. I found it a little frustrating reading about Mark's efforts to improve the literacy of housekeeping and not being able to just tell him, "You're looking at this wrong" myself. Does anyone else find themselves wanting to respond to the staff in the chapter and trying to help, or is it just me?
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Hi Cpscat,
ReplyDeleteLove the fact you feel pulled into these anecdotes. This is what Howard Becker calls "think description". It is a way of writing that emphasizes description over interpretation, and (ostensibly) leaves the interpreting up to the reader. However, this idea is contested: don't we interpret by the retry act of deciding what to describe, what to foreground, who to represent, etc. So while we salute Judy Hunter's impressive writing talent, we want to consider how much our own interpretations are dependent upon her own tacit interpretations. And, as writers, we are reminded of how much power we have, and the ethical responsibility that goes along with this power!
I try not to put too much of myself into my readings, but this chapter and chapter 2 had that effect. And I agree that we have a lot of power when we write. Words are really incredible tools.
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