Reading in a Participatory Culture: Remixing Moby-Dick in the English Classroom

Language and Literacy

by Henry Jenkins, Wyn Kelley (Editor), Katherine Anne Clinton (Editor)

Building on the groundbreaking research of the MacArthur Foundation's Digital Media & Learning initiative, this book crosses the divide between digital literacies and traditional print culture to engage a generation of students who can read with a book in one hand and a mouse in the other.Reading in a Participatory Culturetells the story of an innovative experiment that brought together playwright and director Ricardo Pitts-Wiley, Melville scholar Wyn Kelley, and new media scholar Henry Jenkins to develop an exciting new curriculum to reshape the middle and high school English language arts classroom. This book offers highlights from the resources developed for teaching Herman Melville’sMoby-Dickand outlines basic principles of design, implementation, and assessment that can be applied to any text.

Book

Models a new approach for teaching reading in a participatory culture, which has been field-tested in six different classrooms. Considers how19th-century authors, such as Herman Melville, participated in the literary culture around them. Includes links to a complimentary online digital book,Flows of Reading,which shares the many videos produced by Project New Media and models the application of these core concepts to a range of other texts, includingTheLord of the Rings, The Hunger Games,andFlotsam.Henry Jenkinsis the Provost’s Professor of communications, journalism, cinematic arts, and education at the University of Southern California.Wyn Kelleyis senior lecturer in literature and comparative media studies at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

“InReading in a Participatory Culture, Media Studies meets the Great White Whale in the English Classroom. This book is one of the most exciting and breathtaking works on English education ever written. At the same time it is must reading for anyone interested in digital media, digital culture, and learning in the 21st Century.”—James Paul Gee, Mary Lou Fulton Presidential Professor of Literacy Studies, Arizona State University

“An inspirational approach to democratizing the cultural canon and restoring classrooms to expansive educational purposes grounded in a participatory ethos. It explains in clear, accessible, and practically informative terms the New Media Literacies philosophy of reading and writing to prepare today's students for the world they must build—together, collaboratively—tomorrow.Readingin a Participatory Cultureprovides rich descriptions of experiences and perspectives of readers and writers, teachers, and learners who understandMoby-Dickas itself an instance of cultural remix and, in turn, a living creation to be remixed by all who take delight in it—especially those who can come to take delight in it by being introduced to it as part of theireducation.” —Colin Lankshear,Adjunct Professor, James Cook University, Australia

Genres: Education

240 pages, Kindle Edition

First published February 1, 2013

Reviews

[Elizabeth · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a great book with several incredible insights into how traditional ways of reading and interpreting texts might be supplemented and enhanced by teaching them alongside other forms of interpretation. In general, Jenkins et al. wholly convinced me that doing so would have a variety of positive consequences. Notable among them: students would understand the various motivations that underlie reading experiences and how differing motivations lead to differing interpretations; students would understand how traditional ways of interpreting texts privilege those with specific backgrounds and proclivities; students would learn that different meanings need not be exclusive of each other and that engaging with texts from different perspectives and with different methods ultimately enhances overall understanding. In general, the self-reflexivity that adopting some of these ideas would bring into the English classroom is long overdue. I'm looking forward to looking more closely at the online supplements and thinking about how to incorporate some of these interpretive exercises into my own classroom. I would urge anyone who teaches reading (of literature or otherwise) in high school and college classrooms to do the same.

[Katie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read for exams. Some interesting points about the frames of mind for teen readers and how school and play are siloed. Not sure the instructional suggestions are revolutionary other than the insistence on a consistent well-designed pedagogical approach.

[Colette. PhD · Rating 5 out of 5]

I adore Henry Jenkins, so it's not a surprise that this is one of my favorite books this year looking at the use of participatory culture and the community of readers in literature for young readers... but this went above and beyond my expectations! Makes me want to teach high school English just for the opportunity to get my hands on a group of young readers to share this with!

[Amy · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book has some incredible ideas about remixing, appropriating, and participating in reading. I didn't feel like I needed every chapter, and some of the reading seemed irrelevant or dull, but I will definitely be incorporating some of these ideas into my classroom! The Teachers' Strategy Guide that the researchers created (at newmedialiteracies.org) is incredible.

[Tracy · Rating 1 out of 5]

I was required to purchase this book for one of my library classes. I read the required chapters for the first week or so and then stopped--so boring and dull and did not seem to add anything to my learning.

[Kelsey Dangelo-Worth · Rating 5 out of 5]

A brilliant book about reinventing the English classroom to reflect technology and "remixing" of classics. Makes a strong and profound argument, makes reading fun and significant again.

[Jen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Crazy inspiring.

[Margaret Robbins · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book really was food for the soul, in addition to increasing my academic and pedagogical knowledge. I have developed a true passion for fan fiction as both a creative writer and as a scholar, so I really enjoyed reading about how to integrate fan fiction and popular culture into classroom settings, as related to the study of literature. I was less interested in the parts of the book specifically related to Moby Dick, but I understood why that context was there. The ideas the book suggests really can apply to any primary text, though. I enjoyed learning more about New Literacies and Henry Jenkins's work as related to the English Language Arts classroom. If you're interested in multimodality and fan fiction, I would definitely recommend this book.

[Mills College Library]

813.3 R2872 2013