Reconstructing Critical Literacy in the Postmodern Age: Toward an Intersubjectivist Paradigm of Communicative Action

The postmodern force resembles a violent gushing torrent that washes away almost every man-made artifact of modernity. Literacy education and research, without exception, have been profoundly influenced by this force. The project of critical literacy seems revolutionary and ambitious. It claims to be critical, empowering, and emancipatory. Hence, the central concern of this book is: can critical literacy within the postmodern framework justify its claim? Are there any criticisms of postmodernism? What is lacking in it? Is there an alternative? How does this alternative paradigm address and overcome the limitations of postmodernism? How can critical literacy be critical, empowering, and emancipatory within the alternative paradigm? And what does this alternative paradigm imply in relation to literacy pedagogy? These and other questions are explored in this book. The analysis should be accessible and helpful to those who are interested in the theoretical grounding for critical literacy. Literacy educators will also find the discussion of pedagogical implications useful in informing their practices.