Madaz Publications: Polyphonic Identity and Existential Literacy Transactions

Abstract

In this article, Bob Fecho and Aaron Green discuss issues of identity, existence, and literacy,drawing primarily upon three pieces of writing—a rap, an essay, and an op-ed piece —written by Green in Fecho's high school classes and during his first year of college. Building on the work of Bakhtin, Delpit, Gordon, and Rosenblatt, Fecho and Green examine the ways in which Green uses his writing to explore his identities as provocateur, mainstream writer, and outsider. Green's writing and his ongoing conversation with Fecho, his teacher and mentor, are used to show the polyphonic nature of identity construction, the ways identity transactions are connected to literacy, and the importance of such transactions for teachers and students.