Mapping Recreational Literacies

Book excerpt: Being a fully literate adult means something different today than it did fifty years ago. Adults aged 18-34, having grown up with the technological innovations that have revolutionized the way we live and read - the Walkman, the video cassette recorder, the affordable domestic computer, the game console, the DVD, the Internet, and a variety of mobile and portable communications equipment - are the first generation to take the new world of literacy for granted. This book explores what it means to be a literate adult today, with the help of nine adults ranging in age from 19 to 36. It explores their detailed responses to a variety of particular texts: a digital game, an online poem, a picture book, a set of graphic novels. Mapping Recreational Literacies looks at how we make selections in the face of a plethora of textual options, and raises new questions about the importance of adult play with texts, the significance of ownership in a consumer society, and the role of reading both inside and outside of books. This book looks at the significance of these issues for professionals such as teachers and librarians who work with younger readers.