Identity Work and Cultural Artefacts in Literacy Learning and Use: A Sociocultural Analysis

This paper aims to contribute a sociocultural theoretical perspective for the creative identity work involved in the ongoing process of learning and using literacies. Drawing on anthropological theories of identity formation, I argue that people employ cultural resources, such as cultural artefacts, to develop new identities and literacies. I illuminate these processes by drawing examples from interviews with adult literacy students in Brazil and current literature in sociocultural studies of literacy.