Multimodal Literacies in Transnational Mediascape

• In Event: Multiliteracies and Multimodality in Reclaiming Authority in Reading and Lives

Abstract

Drawing from Appadurai’s (1996) notion of mediascape where global cultural flows simultaneously construct local/global perspectives, this paper aims to explore how young individuals across the globe make sense of digitally shared space, with a specific focus on the Webtoon reader discussion forum. I found these youths build a community of care, raised awareness toward social justice, and mobilized transcultural values to construct a cross-cultural community while making sense of multimodal texts. Understanding the reader discussion forum as a mutually constitutive negotiated space, I emphasize their voluntary decision to engage in Korean webtoon digital space underscores how youths across the globe construct literate selves while transcending such demarcated categories of race, gender, language, and other essentialized identity markers.

Author

• Ahrum Jeon, Boston College