restorying

Restorying the Self: Bending Toward Textual Justice

Authors

  • Ebony Elizabeth Thomas, University of Pennsylvania

  • Amy Stornaiuolo, University of Pennsylvania

Overview

  • The essay discusses trends in reader response in the digital age.

  • Focus on "bending" texts via social media as a form of restorying.

  • Restorying reshapes narratives to include diverse perspectives often overlooked in mainstream texts.

Key Concepts

Transactional Theory of Reading

  • Louise Rosenblatt's Theory: Highlights the interaction between readers and texts.

  • Readers inscribe their identities into stories via participatory practices.

Restorying

  • Defined as a participatory textual practice.

  • Encourages youth to inscribe their identities into narratives.

  • Counteracts the concept of a single story, promoting a multiplicity of stories.

Forms of Restorying

  • Six forms discussed: time, place, perspective, mode, metanarrative, and identity.

  • Emphasis on the concept of bending as a method of reimagining stories from marginalized perspectives.

Bending in Fan Communities

  • Youth are creating racebent fanworks in response to the lack of diversity in mainstream children's literature.

  • Examples from children's and young adult books, movies, and comics.

Storying and Power

Importance of Power in Storytelling

  • Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie's warning about the danger of a single story.

  • The impact of diverse representations on readers' perceptions of themselves.

Resistance to Single Stories

  • Chinua Achebe: Advocates for those marginalized to restory themselves, contributing to a balanced narrative landscape.

  • Young people's restorying practices push back against dominant narratives.

Literacy Education Implications

  • The essay discusses how these trends can inform literacy education.

  • Urging educators to embrace diverse narratives in curriculum and foster an inclusive environment.

Restorying Practices in the Digital Age

Changing Nature of Texts

  • Texts are no longer confined to traditional formats (print and screen).

  • Digital and participatory culture are redefining text through semiotic work.

Emergence of New Media

  • The role of digital tools in reshaping the literary landscape.

  • Transformative potential of participatory culture in meaning-making.

New Forms of Student Engagement

  • Students are using digital platforms to engage in collaborative text creation.

  • Highlighting the shifting dynamics in reader-author relationships.

Engaging with Multimodal Literacy

  • Encouraging the creation of multimodal texts in classrooms.

  • Understanding how stories change across different modes (text, video, etc.).

Forms of Restorying Explained

Restorying Time and Place

  • Changing the setting of narratives has emerged as a common practice.

  • Example: Retelling Moby-Dick with contemporary settings.

Restorying Perspective

  • Retelling stories through different points of view to foster empathy.

  • Historical contexts show how diverse perspectives enrich narratives.

Restorying Across Modes

  • Engaging in narrative transformations through various art forms (hip-hop, visual arts, etc.).

  • Multimodal projects connect out-of-school literacies to academic discourse.

Collective Engagement in Restorying

  • Young people collaboratively create texts in digital communities.

  • Participatory culture fosters an environment of shared creativity and collective meanings.

Restorying Identity

  • The practice of bending characters' identities to reflect a more diverse array of representations.

  • Racebending as a prominent form of this identity restorying.

Case Study: Racebending

Background and Development

  • Emerged from fan activism against racial representation in media.

  • Highlighting campaigns like Racebending.com against Hollywood's casting practices.

Examples of Racebending

  • Fan adaptations of popular characters to include diverse identities.

  • Notable instances include racebent versions of characters from Frozen and Harry Potter.

Challenges and Responses

  • Backlash against racebending often stems from traditional views on genre and character authenticity.

  • Responses reveal a persistent cultural investment in preserving a whitewashed narrative.

Implications for Educators

Need for Inclusive Narratives in Education

  1. Restorying Time and Place: Encourage students to retell stories within their contexts.

  2. Restorying Perspective: Students should practice retelling from various character viewpoints, especially non-dominant ones.

  3. Restorying Across Modes: Facilitate discussions on how mediums affect narratives.

  4. Restorying Together: Empower young people to reclaim narratives in collaborative settings.

  5. Restorying Identity: Support projects that allow for diverse representations and bending of identities.

Conclusion

  • Emphasized the importance of recognizing and validating young people's narratives.

  • Advocated for educators to inspire students to engage in creative practices that reflect their identities and experiences.