Multimodal Literacies: Imagining Lives Through Korean Dramas

• In Event: 14.045 - Roundtable Session 2
  In Roundtable Session: 14.045-5 - Exploring Languaging and Literacies in Schools and Beyond

Abstract

Global networks of information and interactions have created new conditions for access to multiple communities, languages, forums, and expressive modes. This access may support individuals in imagining lives for themselves different from their local contexts. This paper presents data from two qualitative studies of adolescent literacy practices about Korean popular culture texts. Although these adolescents did not reside in Korea, we found they constructed transnational spaces through these multimodal literacy practices (1) composing locations and (2) Internet-mediated dialogic exchanges. Adolescents in both studies expressed a sense of belonging not exclusive to their places of residence. Our findings illustrate how multimodal literacy practices developed through engagement with another country’s popular culture texts may support imaginative, multilingual, multicultural identity construction.

Authors

• Grace MyHyun Kim

• Delila Omerbasic, Tulane University