Abstract
Graphic novels have powerful language that can engage students by showing reality through multimodal arts and illustrations that a monolithic text may not do. Drawing on the post-structural theory of Deleuze and Guattrai (1987), this chapter provides ideas on using graphic novels in class and highlights the importance of rhizomatic literacy for adolescent learners with a special focus on multilingual students and English Learners (ELs). Graphic novels can cultivate multiliteracy. Using two non-fiction novels, The Harlem Hellfighters (Brooks, 2014) and Darkroom: A Memoir in Black and White (Weaver, 2012), this chapter shows how such multimodal texts can be used effectively for teaching history and culture as well as language to young learners in diverse contexts. Teachers may encourage students to read these books and write about their personal lives and experiences. It has been argued that these activities will enable students to positively construct their identities while enhancing their self-image and self-esteem in multicultural and multilingual societies.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Alvermann, D. E. (2011). Moving on/keeping pace: Youth’s literate identities and multimodal digital text. Yearbook of the National Society for the Study of Education, 110(1), 109–128. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com.proxy-remote.galib.uga.edu/login.aspx?direct=true&db=edo&AN=71662975&site=eds-live
Bakis, M. (2012). The graphic novel classroom: Powerful teaching and learning with images. Thousand Oaks, Calif: Corwin.
Boatright, M. D. (2010). Graphic journeys: Graphic novels’ representations of immigrant experiences. Journal of Adolescent and Adult Literacy, 53(6), 468–476.
Brooks, M. (2014). The Harlem hellfighters. New York: Broadway Books.
Cary, S. (2004). Going graphic: Comics at work in the multilingual classroom. Portsmouth: Heineman.
Chute, H. (2008). Comics as literature? Reading graphic narrative. Publications of the Modern Language Association of America, 123(2), 452–465.
Danzak, R. (2011). Defining identities through multiliteracies: EL teens narrate their immigration experiences as graphic stories. Journal of Adolescent and Adult Literacy, 55(3), 187–196.
Decker, A. C., & Castro, M. (2012). Teaching history with comic books: A case study of violence, war, and the graphic novel. History Teacher, 45(2), 169–188.
Deleuze, G., & Guattari, F. (1987). A thousand plateaus (B. Massumi, Trans.). Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press.
Hagood, M. C. (2004). A rhizomatic cartography of adolescents, popular culture and constructions of self. In K. M. Leander & M. Sheehy (Eds.), Spatializing literacy research and practice (pp. 143–160). New York: Peter Lang.
Hagood, M. C. (2009). Research directions: Mapping a rhizome of 21st century language arts: Travel plans for research and practice. Language Arts, 87(1), 39–48.
Hall, S. (1996). Cultural identity and diaspora. In P. Mongia (Ed.), Contemporary postcolonial theory: A reader (pp. 110–121). London: Arnold.
Hecke, C. (2011). Graphic novels as a teaching tool in high school and university English as a foreign language (EFL) classrooms. Amerikastudien/American Studies, 56(4), 653–668.
Kamberelis, G. (2004). The rhizome and the pack: Liminal literacy formations with political teeth. In K. M. Leander & M. Sheehy (Eds.), Spatializing literacy research and practice (pp. 161–198). New York: Peter Lang.
Kress, G. (2003). Literacy in the new media age. London: Routledge.
Lather, P. (2013). Methodology-21: What do we do in the afterward? International Journal of Qualitative Studies in Education, 26(6), 634–645.
Lyotard, J. (1984). The postmodern condition: A report on knowledge (G. Bennington, & B. Massumi, Trans.). Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press.
Norton, B., & Mckinney, C. (2011). An identity approach to second language acquisition. In D. Atkinson (Ed.), Alternative approaches to second language acquisition (pp. 73–94). New York: Routledge.
Said, E. (2001). Introduction: Homage to Joe Sacco. In Palestine (pp. i–v). Seattle, Washington: Fantagraphics Books.
Sharma, P. K. (2021). Chacha Chaudhary. New Delhi: Diamond Books.
Smetana, L., Odelson, D., Burns, H., & Grisham, D. L. (2009). Using graphic novels in the high school classroom: Engaging deaf students with a new genre. Journal of Adolescent and Adult Literacy, 53(3), 228–240.
Weaver, L. Q. (2012). Darkroom: A memoir in black and white. Tuscaloosa: The University of Alabama Press.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2022 The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd.
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Sharmin, S. (2022). Rhizomatic Literacy Through Graphic Novels. In: Khan, R., Bashir, A., Basu, B.L., Uddin, M.E. (eds) Local Research and Glocal Perspectives in English Language Teaching. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-19-6458-9_11
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-19-6458-9_11
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Singapore
Print ISBN: 978-981-19-6457-2
Online ISBN: 978-981-19-6458-9
eBook Packages: EducationEducation (R0)