The reading world of black workers
Date
2015-03-13
Authors
French, Edward.
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Abstract
An understanding of the identity of reading and its social meanings
should contribute to the quality of adult literacy work. This study
is an inquiry into ways ot understanding reading, and specifically
into its meaning and role in the lives of black workers in South
Africa. The understanding of reading has been dominated by
positivism, but 1ncreasing interest has been shown in the relationship
cf literacy and society. However, even these approaches remain
largely objective. Alternatives to objectivism are presented in
some detail. This provides the background and rationale for a broad
account of the social history and contexts of reading in black society
in South Africa and for a study of what reading means to eighteen
leading black employees at two East Rand factories. The reading world
of black workers is characterised by various deprivations and disadvantages.
The printed word is owned and controlled by white government
and capital in a contradictory and contested hegemony, yet it is
perceived positively as an aspect of our society in which black people
participate fully, and from which they benefit unequivocally. Reading
is understood in terms of aspirations to modernity and to be.ng at
home in s national and cosmopolitan community. The experience of
reading is felt to be vitally important, although it is not a major
feature in the daily lives of most of the participants in this study.
Newspapers occupy a dominant position in the reading world of black
workers, but t ne level of critical awareness of the media would appeal
to be low. The study as a whole works against reductionism; the tendency
for literacy to be claimed in the name of instrumental purposes
is contested. Implications of the study for adult education and research
are briefly considered.
Description
Keywords
Reading, Research, Blacks, Education, South Africa