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Judging Knowledge Final.pdf (1.74 MB)

ETD Abstract Container

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Judging Knowledge: Conceptions of Literacy at UNESCO during the United Nations Literacy Decade 2003-2012

Matus, Lauren A
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=kent1586812354993213

Abstract Details

2020, PHD, Kent State University, College of Arts and Sciences / Department of English.
While there have been numerous calls to critique UNESCO’s influence on literacy policies and practices, there has not been any research into how conceptions of literacy might be transmitted by UNESCO through celebratory speech. Specifically, I look at the occasion of International Literacy Day as a site for rhetorical analysis. Thus, this dissertation helps to fill a gap by examining the metaphorical linguistic expressions that are used during International Literacy Day, to reveal conceptions of literacy that are being promoted. This dissertation demonstrates a triangulated methodology to analyze such rhetoric. International Literacy Day is but one day, but it is symbolic of years’ worth of effort to improve global literacy rates. Set within a framework of definitional argument, I use a two-tiered analysis to reveal metaphors and developed a framework to examine the metaphoric language used to describe literacy. The framework references Brian Street’s (1984) two models of literacy, the autonomous and the ideological; this model is used to determine whether there are traces of the autonomous model of literacy present in the International Literacy Day speeches. I argue that specific rhetorical framing and the use of metaphor during International Literacy Day celebrations establishes “a rallying cry and banner for renewed international commitment to literacy” (UNESCO, 2009), revealing some conceptualizations of literacy that align with the autonomous model of literacy.
Sara Newman (Committee Chair)
Dunmire Patricia (Committee Member)
Patterson GPat (Committee Member)
Hawes Daniel (Committee Member)
Was Christopher (Other)
239 p.
Rhetoric

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Matus, L. A. (2020). Judging Knowledge: Conceptions of Literacy at UNESCO during the United Nations Literacy Decade 2003-2012 [Doctoral dissertation, Kent State University]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=kent1586812354993213

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Matus, Lauren. Judging Knowledge: Conceptions of Literacy at UNESCO during the United Nations Literacy Decade 2003-2012 . 2020. Kent State University, Doctoral dissertation. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=kent1586812354993213.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Matus, Lauren. "Judging Knowledge: Conceptions of Literacy at UNESCO during the United Nations Literacy Decade 2003-2012 ." Doctoral dissertation, Kent State University, 2020. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=kent1586812354993213

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

kent1586812354993213
305
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This open access ETD is published by Kent State University and OhioLINK.