Recherches en didactique des langues et des cultures (Sep 2018)

« Chaque objet raconte une histoire »Les pratiques de littératie chez des Inuit en milieu urbain

  • Donna Patrick,
  • Gabriele Budach

DOI
https://doi.org/10.4000/rdlc.2745
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 9, no. 2

Abstract

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The text explores the concept of “literacy of mobility” and looks at urban Inuit in Ottawa/Canada as a case study of a trans-national indigenous community. The text illuminates literacy practices generated by the Inuit community in the context of an Inuit community centre, the Ottawa Inuit Children Centre (OICC). The study examines in particular the role of objects in interactions which are embedded in literacy practices, and investigates their potential for retracing migrant trajectories and connecting different institutional and life worlds. This study contributes to the field of New Literacy Studies and presents a novel approach into understanding the processes of migration and locally generated literacy practices. Focusing on Urban Inuit, this study examines an indigenous community whose cultural foundation differs from many Western cultures. This poses questions for what counts as literacy.

Keywords