College Composition and Communication Feb 2014

Flattening Effects: Composition’s Multicultural Imperative and the Problem of Narrative Coherence

Jonathan Alexander ; Jacqueline Rhodes California State University System

Abstract

This essay argues that multiculturalism-inflected composition classrooms often “flatten” or efface radical alterities with which students—and teachers—should be encouraged to grapple. The authors demonstrate some of the limitations of such pedagogies, offer examples of provocative texts that celebrate difference—not identity—as a powerful critical and compositional tool for exploring subjectivity and justice, and call for a shift toward acknowledging our potential incommensurability and unknowability as a fruitful way to engage issues of social justice.

Journal
College Composition and Communication
Published
2014-02-01
DOI
10.58680/ccc201424570
Open Access
Closed

Citation Context

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