[Xmca-l] Re: Sociocritical Literacies and more context

[Zavala, Miguel]

Aria and Larry,

I want to add to your inquiry on testimonio. The discussion reminds me of
the nuances of such a term (as concept, experience, expression, etc.).
*Witnessing* can be construed as passive but I believe it also involves
what Freire termed a particular kind of "naming". One of the (many)
central problems raised by testimonio, which I also find in standpoint
theory (Harding), is the question/tension/exploration of individual AND
collective voicing.

I will stretch the analysis here a bit and dare say that testimonio is
more than a meditational tool--it is a collective object (*achievement* as
standpoint theorists would say) that closes spaces (resolves
contradictions, primary, secondary, tertiary, even contrarieties)-- it is
perhaps an unmediated relation between self and other. It is indeed
"radical, going to the roots of our being human together."

-Miguel


On 12/31/14 10:31 AM, "Aria Razfar" <arazfar@uic.edu> wrote:

>Larry,
>
>The specific stance that is amplified by the intersections of "third
>space" post-colonial theory, sociocultural theory, and "testimonio" is
>somewhat apparent in the language choice. There is no English equivalent
>because there cannot be an English equivalent. At least, there cannot be
>an "English-Only" equivalent. It represents a movement toward an
>indigenous stance on voice, agency, knowledge, certainty, validity,
>language choice, and learning. I say a "movement toward" because Spanish
>itself carries similar baggage especially within the Latin American
>context. This is the rationale for why some use the Aztec idea of
>Nepantla instead of "Third Space" (e.g., Rochelle Guiterrez, Gloria
>Anzaldua). "Testimonio" further complicates what it means for
>"subalterns" to "reclaim voice" through the dominant voice. This is the
>heart-wrenching question raised by Spivak, "Can the subaltern speak?"
>Both the altern and the subaltern need to "step outside" the inscribed
>institutional roles, together in order to move "to the roots of our being
>human together." Spivak was specfically critiqueing "the Western
>intellectual" voice wondering if it truly could be a tool of liberation.
>It seems like a "core" identity question as we move through various
>historical entanglements seeking answers to ontological questions of self
>in relation to other. Also looking forward to this type of re-search.
>  
>
>Aria
>
>
>
>
>
>Aria Razfar, Ph.D.
>Associate Professor of Literacy, Language, and Culture
>Director of Graduate Studies, Curriculum and Instruction
>University of Illinois at Chicago
>1040 W. Harrison St. M/C 147
>Chicago, IL, 60607
>
>Director of English Learning through Mathematics, Science and Action
>Research (ELMSA)
>www.elmsa.org
>
>Webpage: http://education.uic.edu/personnel/faculty/aria-razfar-phd
>Tel: 312-413-8373
>Fax: 312-996-8134
>
>This is the heart-wrenching question raised by Spivak, "Can the subaltern
>speak?" Both the altern and the subaltern need to "step outside" the
>inscribed roles, together in order to move "to the roots of our being
>human together." It seems like a "core" identity question as we move
>through various historical entanglements seeking answers to ontological
>questions of self in relation to other. Also looking forward to this type
>of re-search.     
>
>Aria 
>
>
>-----Original Message-----
>From: xmca-l-bounces+arazfar=uic.edu@mailman.ucsd.edu
>[mailto:xmca-l-bounces+arazfar=uic.edu@mailman.ucsd.edu] On Behalf Of
>Larry Purss
>Sent: Tuesday, December 30, 2014 10:08 PM
>To: eXtended Mind, Culture, Activity
>Subject: [Xmca-l] Re: Sociocritical Literacies and more context
>
>Aria,
>I want to repeat and amplify your suggestion :
>
>It is important to clarify what is meant by "third space" and its
>analogous concepts in various schools of thought (e.g., liminality,
>double consciousness, third place, etc.). The post-colonial uptake of
>third space (e.g., Said, Bhaba, Spivak) within the sociocultural theory
>is a very specific stance and this might be the moment for that
>conversation as well.
>
>To focus on the *third space* as a VERY SPECIFIC stance.
>I would like to become clear on the centrality of *witnessing* as central
>or the re-search fades away.
>Also terms such as *mutuality* contrasted with *reciprocity* or
>*transactions*.
>
>Testimonios as neither subjective [alone] or objective [alone] but a
>hybrid MODE that is a form of witnessing.
>I would also suggest the theme of *gift* as more than transaction or
>echange [in continental philosophy traditions] is relevant.
>
>There is a *spirit* and a moral virtue within this form of witnessing as
>*third space* that plays around with notions of *trans* as moving across
>forms [horizons] as trans-versals [or trans-verse-als] .
>I have an intuition that this type of witnessing is radical, going to the
>roots of our being human together.
>
>Aria, I look forward to further re-search Larry
>
>On Tue, Dec 30, 2014 at 12:00 PM, Aria Razfar <arazfar@uic.edu> wrote:
>
>> For those of us working with Kris' sociocritical perspective, third
>> space has been a valuable construct for thinking about collective
>> learning zopeds and consciousness for that matter. It is important to
>> clarify what is meant by "third space" and its analogous concepts in
>> various schools of thought (e.g., liminality, double consciousness,
>> third place, etc.). The post-colonial uptake of third space (e.g.,
>> Said, Bhaba, Spivak) within the sociocultural theory is a very
>> specific stance and this might be the moment for that conversation as
>>well.
>>
>> Aria
>>
>> Aria Razfar, Ph.D.
>> Associate Professor of Literacy, Language, and Culture Director of
>> Graduate Studies, Curriculum and Instruction University of Illinois at
>> Chicago
>> 1040 W. Harrison St. M/C 147
>> Chicago, IL, 60607
>>
>> Director of English Learning through Mathematics, Science and Action
>> Research (ELMSA) www.elmsa.org
>>
>> Webpage: http://education.uic.edu/personnel/faculty/aria-razfar-phd
>> Tel: 312-413-8373
>> Fax: 312-996-8134
>>
>>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: xmca-l-bounces@mailman.ucsd.edu
>> [mailto:xmca-l-bounces@mailman.ucsd.edu] On Behalf Of Kris Gutierrez
>> Sent: Tuesday, December 30, 2014 2:56 PM
>> To: eXtended Mind, Culture, Activity
>> Subject: [Xmca-l] Re: Sociocritical Literacies and more context
>>
>> Annalisa, Manuel initiated the last uptake. (I think others have
>> clarified that now :)
>>
>> Mike C., Miguel Zavala, Larry Purss and I posted some thoughts before
>> the holidays.  For me it is useful to connect Manuel¹s recent post to
>> those earlier thoughts/conversations.
>>
>> Some very quick very unedited thoughts following up on Manuel¹s post:
>>
>> Michael G., Mike C. correctly points out that the
>> testimonios/autobiographies were not research techniques but
>> generative tools that were indeed a part of the interconnected set of
>> practices that created a collective zoped‹a third space if you will.
>> I try to elaborate this idea in the Scribner Lecture piece
>> (sociocritical literacies).  My own work on Third Space, the
>> collective work of the instructional team of MSI, ongoing
>> conversations with Mike C. and Yrjo over the years at the lab, and
>> their work certainly informed this idea of a collective zoped,
>> collective third space  (See Engeström, 1987, 1994 in particular;
>> Nicolopoulou & Cole, 1993; Tuomi-Gröhn & Engeström, 2003; Tuomi-
>> Gröhn, Engeström, & Young, 2003; Chaiklin, 2003, Moll, 1990; Moll &
>> Greenberg, 1990 as key examples that certainly inform this work as
>>well. And LSV and Bakhtin are ever present).
>> These, I think, are useful references, all cited in the article.
>> Shirin Vossoughi¹s recent MCA piece also is very relevant to this
>>discussion.
>>
>> Some relevant excerpts from the sociocritical article,
>>
>> "To illustrate these points and their relation to a collective Third
>> Space, let us examine the MSLI more closely.
>> The activity system, the MSLI, has a specific internal logic organized
>> around expanding the students¹ sociohistorical and educational ecology
>> through the collective imagining of a new educational and
>> sociopolitical future.
>> To avoid the ³interactional reductionism implicit in much
>> Vygotskian-inspired research² (Nicolopoulou & Cole, 1993, p. 284), the
>> specific interactions and practices of the MSLI are understood as what
>> Nicolopoulou and Cole call a ³genuinely collective reality² (p. 284).
>>
>> Here we see the [Migrant] institute as an example of the Third Space,
>> a collective zo-ped, at the larger level of activity the object of
>> which is the sociohistorical reconstruction of what it means to be a
>> migrant student.
>> This movement involves a process of becoming conscious ³historical
>>actors²
>> (Espinoza, 2003) who invoke the past in order to re-mediate it so that
>> it becomes a resource for current and future action (p. 154)."
>>
>> Testimonios and their embodiment in Teatro del Oprimido (Boal¹s
>> Theatre of the Oppressed that Manuel introduced to us and the program
>> and that he and Vossoughi elaborated) were key means of
>> developing/inciting a new social and pedagogical imagination and for
>> imagining new futures with/for the migrant students, their
>> communities, and indeed for all of us, as Manuel so thoughtfully
>> writes. Teatro served as a collective problem-solving space‹a space
>> where the playful imagination helped to make inequities and the roots
>> of social problems visible, while providing an opportunity to re-frame
>> events, re-mediate and enact an imagined future collectively (such as
>> flying collectively/social dreaming).  I hope Manuel and Shirin jump
>> in and elaborate these thoughts.
>>
>> Re: Research design:  For me, Migrant was in Yrjo and Mike's approach,
>> a formative experiment; what I term social design experiments‹a
>> designed based research approach that foregrounds equity, diversity,
>> historicity, and re-mediation, for example. As Susan Jurow and I wrote
>> and presented at the ICLS conference this summer (a piece that we
>> expect will be part of a larger set of papers with Mike C., Yrjo and
>> Annalisa, and Bill Penuel), social design experiments: aim to make
>> possible a sustainable and dignified life for all humans; address the
>> challenges of leveraging cultural diversity and reducing social
>> inequality; and call for the co-design of new tools and futures with
>> members of non-dominant communities, as but a few key design
>> principles.
>>
>>      Absolutely, research as re-searching‹searching for the answer to
>> a question you have searched for repeatedly without success! Well
>> said, Miguel Cole! Thanks, for your thoughts, Michael Glassman!
>>
>>      more on sociocritical literacies, later.   kris
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> Kris Gutierrez
>> gutierkd@gmail.com
>>
>> Kris D. Gutiérrez
>> Professor
>> Graduate School of Education
>> 5629 Tolman Hall #1670
>> University of California, Berkeley
>> Berkeley CA 94720-1670
>>
>> Distinguished Professor
>> Learning Sciences and Literacy
>> School of Education
>> University of Colorado, Boulder
>>
>>
>> > On Dec 30, 2014, at 9:50 AM, Annalisa Aguilar <annalisa@unm.edu>
>>wrote:
>> >
>> > Hello!
>> >
>> > Sorry for being silly here, but I couldn't help but see that so far
>> > on
>> this thread, there have been appearances by:
>> >
>> > mike, Annalisa, Michael, Luisa, and Miguel!
>> >
>> >
>>
>>
>>
>>
>
>