UMBC Language, Literacy, and Culture Department
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Item TMI or OMG: Jeff Rice Laughs At The King With No Clothes(RHIZOMES, 2021-06-01) Saper, CraigReview of Authentic Writing by Jeff RiceItem Global Reading Supplement(Inscription, 2017-03-02) Saper, Craig; Truelove, IanAugmented Reality remediation of Dr Craig Saper’s essay, ‘Global Reading Supplement’: a collaboration between our digital artist-in-residence for issue one, Craig Saper and our digital designer (AR, VR & Coding) Ian Truelove.Item Reading Mrs. Dalloway(TEXTSHOP EXPERIMENTS, 2020-06-13) Saper, Craig; Worth, ZaraItem Saudades: toward a sociopoetics of diaspora, migration, & exiled writing(SciELO, 2023-12-18) Saper, CraigAbstract Unpacking the term saudades, this article weaves together Claude Lévi-Strauss's research in Brazil for Tristes Tropiques with both Oswald de Andrade's 1928 Manifesto Antropofágico, and Rose and Bob Brown's visual poetry, travel guides, cookbooks, and young adult history books about Brazil. One can consider these projects as decolonial theory, poetry, and sociopoetics seventy or eighty years before decolonial theory became a widely discussed term. Augusto de Campos of the Noigandres group and a leader of the International Concrete Poetry movement wrote introductions to facsimile editions of both Oswald de Andrade's manifesto and then later to Bob Brown's republished collection of visual poems, 1450-1950. Although almost completely unknown now, Rose herself authored three children’s books, Two Children of Brazil, Two Children and their Jungle Zoo, and Amazon Adventures of Two Children, one social geography, Land and People of Brazil, and one biographical history, American Emperor: Dom Pedro II of Brazil, all while living in Brazil. Rose and Bob together edited the Brazilian American business weekly in the early and mid-1920s. All of these people may have known each other in Brazil as they worked and lived among overlapping circles of friends and colleagues involved in the modernist avant-garde, but as-of-yet, whether they met or not remains a mystery.Item 15 Minutes of Existence During A Pandemic: Pseudonyms in Mail-Art and Social Media(RHIZOMES, 2020-06-01) Saper, Craig; Readies, Dj; Sapper, CraigBased on a College Art Association paper on “Not Utopian Dreams: 1960s Avant-Garde Conceptual Art As Warning of Our Current Crisis,” delivered on February 12, 2020, about a month before quarantines and lockdowns began, this article begins with a description of a slip of the tongue during the introduction to that paper. The slip, uncannily connected to the themes of the paper and the entire panel, leads to a discussion of pseudonyms in mail-art and social media. Against the intention of those involved in stamp, mail, and networked-art projects to produce a radically progressive politics and aesthetics, the anonymous and pseudonymous style now looks like the nefarious cyber-manipulations. Reading right-wing disinformation (that occurs by sending-on memes, tweets, and snippets), in terms of mail artists' "on-sendings allows one to see the contemporary mass manipulation as a logic, grammar, or structure. You don't need to intellectually agree with the message to send it on either in disgust, like, or laughter. That's how the earlier on-sendings work: no editorial judgement. They work before any interpretation or close-reading; they work before any established identity has claimed authorship (it could be a bot). The messages appear in a long anonymous chain. The key difference between manipulative cyber-media and networked art involves anonymity and pseudonyms. The participants and artists-audiences know who and where the messages come from; it is only the spying eyes of the delivery person or governmental investigators or marketers who saw only the pseudonym without an identity. It was anonymous for the censors and oppressors, and, at the exact same time, it is not even masked let alone anonymous for networked artists even though we all have well-known pseudonyms, handles, or a dj's monikers. The space between pseudonyms and anonymity determines its sociopoetic position.Item Residents' views about assets, challenges, and renewal options in the Brooklyn, MD community(2020-02-24) Adler, Marina; Schumacher, John; Bovard, Melanie; Denakpo, Audrey; Punksungka, MaiaItem SINGING AMERICA'S ILIAD: A STUDY OF CULTURAL IDENTITY AND BELONGING THROUGH PUBLIC EVENTS OF GERMANIA HALL, TROY, NY, 1889-1918.(2023-01-01) Quinn, Siobhan Mary; Bickel, Beverly; Meringolo, Denise; Language, Literacy & Culture; Language Literacy and CultureEthnic halls have been understudied in the history of American culture and society. Singing America's Iliad: A Study of Cultural Identity and Belonging studies the Troy German Hall Association and its associated Germania Hall in Troy, NY from 1889-1918. Records show that Germania Hall was a significant and active third space, an anchor institution between work and home for those in the German Deutschtum in Troy. The Deutschtum of Germania Hall consistently and purposefully presented artistic expression in public events to create and maintain a cohesive German-speaking community; celebrate and deepen their shared culture and connection; and advocate for themselves through the arts and events in Troy and society at large. The community established its Hall using accepted legal and cultural norms and, from that home, built state and national alliances with other German Americans. The Deutschtum was deeply engaged in Troy and sought a place where they belonged in America, even as they celebrated their culture of origin. As their German-American hyphenated identity became conflated with disloyalty before World War I, they had to demonstrate their loyalty to America, ultimately having to publicly and performatively cast out their dual identity claims to become 100% American. Culture is constantly in motion, and cultural identity is constantly negotiated in particular times and places. This portion of the American Iliad tells us that even an ethnic group with deep roots in the country can become unsafe by embracing and publicly celebrating their culture. With this reality we see again the complications of ethnic identities when confronting the construction and continual reconstruction of an exclusive American identity by the dominant White culture.Item The Past Is Calling: Adaptation as Popular Cultural Memory(2023-01-01) Morrow, Alison; Saper, Craig; Larkey, Edward; Language, Literacy & Culture; Language Literacy and CultureAdaptation studies has long struggled with how, exactly, to understand adaptations. The field seeks to move beyond judgement-based analysis that continuously privileges ÒoriginalÓ texts over other versions of a narrative. Textual analysis has long been limited to categorizing similarities and differences, and contemporary theorists focus more on how adaptations are produced than on how adaptations operate within culture and what individual adapted tales actually say. To mitigate fidelity theory while still returning to textual analysis, this work recognizes adaptations as popular cultural memory, positioning the texts as cultural creators, and utilizes theories from television genre theory and fairy tale theory to create a method for analyzing adaptations as adaptations, moving beyond merely enumerating sameness and difference to understand an adapted textÕs interactions within its culture. This method includes delineating and comparing global kernels Ñ characters and character-driven plot points shared between versions Ñ across multiple versions of an adaptation, then contextualizing those comparisons within historical and cultural context. This allows an analysis that focuses on where the adaptation shifts away from expectations or returns to them, and how those changes or lack thereof maintain and subvert the cultural discourses occurring at the time the adaptation was created. Three case studies of Korean television adaptations, Pinocchio (2014-2015), Splash Splash Love (2015), and Signal (2016), use this method to show how re-told narratives of native Korean historical figures, European fairy tales, and American films all have been localized for the Korean audience, and comment on contemporary cultural events. Each re-telling reinforces some aspects of Korean culture while working to subvert others. Each also acts as a bridge for Korean culture, sharing KoreaÕs values globally, in a form recognizable to international audiences, because audiences are already familiar with either the narrative or its genre. By situating adaptations as popular cultural memory, and establishing a new tool for analysis, the global kernel, this work recognizes the place of adaptations within culture and illuminates the power they wield. This method offers scholars a path to contextualize the changes within the often-overlooked re-told narratives that permeate culture, while also discerning the influence adaptations have within and across cultures.Item Black Women and Unmet Fertility Desires: Experiences of Infertility, Impaired Fertility, and Involuntary Childlessness in the Quest for Motherhood(2023-01-01) Minter, Alyse; Harris Wallace, Brandy; Language, Literacy & Culture; Language Literacy and CultureAccording to the literature, Black women are almost twice as likely to face infertility compared to the general population, experience stillbirth at higher rates, are less likely to seek medical help for fertility challenges, and have lower success rates when utilizing assistive reproductive technologies, such as in vitro fertilization (IVF). Despite these disparities, Black women and families remain underrepresented in fertility research. Little is known about the causes or implications of infertility for Black women; even less is known about the sociocultural negotiations that Black women and their partners may undergo to make meaning from their experiences and reshape life expectations.Fertility challenges as illness gain meaning through social context. Using Black feminist theory, life course theory, and illness narrative lenses, this qualitative study utilized semi-structured interviews with Black women of reproductive age (n = 40) and Black, female medical specialists (reproductive endocrinology and infertility (REI) physicians and nurses) (n = 5) to explore how middle-class Black women understand and make meaning of their experiences with impaired fertility, to include socialization around motherhood and fertility intentions; experiences of infertility, pregnancy loss, and reproductive disorders; medical help-seeking; and social support seeking in the context of personal and intimate relationships. This study utilized Black feminist methodological frameworks and relied on self-reported fertility challenges among study participants, recognizing Black women as the experts of their experiences. Findings demonstrate that participantsÕ preexisting beliefs about fertility and motherhood impacted their expectations for family building and that unfulfilled motherhood desires profoundly affected their perception of self. Participants also spoke on their experiences navigating medical environments as Black women, including anxieties about medical racism and their desire for race and gender concordance in medical providers. Among married and partnered women, intimate relationships were a source of potential support, with fertility challenges either bringing couples closer together or serving as a source of tension. Discussions of social support seeking demonstrate that accessing emotional support can be complicated and many participants expressed feeling alone in their journeys. This study has implications for addressing Black womenÕs reproductive health disparities, advancing policy solutions to improve womenÕs healthcare, and informing the way medical providers are socialized into the field and engage with patients.Item Extending Professional Development through Community: A Case Study of Experienced Non-Native English-Speaking Teachers of Adults Teaching English to Young Learners in Peru(2023-01-01) Faust, Heidi Jo; Bickel, Beverly A. Shin, Joan K.; Language, Literacy & Culture; Language Literacy and CultureDesire for English learning globally has increased demands from parents and national language policies to provide English instruction to younger students over the past few decades. Simultaneously, the number of qualified teachers of English to young learners is insufficient. Teaching English to young learners (TEYL) is complex, requiring expertise in second language acquisition theory and practice, early childhood and primary education, and proficiency in English as a foreign or additional language. Reliance on private language schools and recruitment of teachers from a variety of other professions has been a common solution. In this study experienced teachers of English to adult learners (whose previous careers included architecture, engineering, education, and cattle ranching, for example) were teaching English in a Young Students Program at a Binational Center (BNC) in Peru with little to no formal preparation for working with children.This 2-year qualitative case study explores the impact of extending professional learning from a blended online course through a series of professional development events in a professional learning community (PLC) that was supported by school leaders and conducted in partnership with an institute of higher education over time. Findings of the study indicate that both teachers and school leaders developed an increased sense of self- and collective-efficacy in TEYL; experienced an increased but complex sense of professionalism in TEYL; and experienced the PLC differently depending on diverse relational and behavioral conditions in the ecology of the PLC. Sub-themes like confidence, trust, fear, and other conditions that affected the community also appear in connection to multiple interrelated findings in the evolving story of the PLC. These findings are significant as they contribute knowledge that addresses known tensions in TEYL related to teacher practice and professionalism and a gap in the literature by including a Peruvian perspective in global discussions of TEYL; and provides new perspectives on the characteristics of PLCs outside of U.S. contexts. Findings demonstrate the potential of professional learning communities to support positive shifts in TEYL self-efficacy, practice, and professionalism, and make strong arguments for the value of school leaders participating in continuous professional development as learners in collaboration with teachers.Item Digital-to-Print Adaptive Transfer: An Examination of a Pedagogical Approach for Eliciting Rhetorical Knowledge Transfer(2023-01-01) DePrima, Justin; McCarthy, Lucille; Mallinson, Christine; Language, Literacy & Culture; Language Literacy and CultureStudents have always had to Òamalgamate new writing and writing practices in response to rapid social changeÓ (Brandt, 1995, p. 651), but the speed at which digital technologies have been influencing communicative practices and processes has never been faster. In the early twenty-first century, calls to address emergent literacies became prevalent within the field of Writing Studies. A renewed interest in writing knowledge transfer developed as a byproduct. In 2009, Kathleen Yancey, Liane Robertson, and Kara Taczak designed a Teaching for Transfer (TFT) course and studied whether, and how, their curriculum supported the transfer of studentsÕ writing knowledge and practice from course to course. This dissertation project continues that line of research to address the increasingly digital and diverse prior writing knowledge that students carry with them to college. Grounded in theories of abstraction (Salomon & Perkins, 1989) and adaptive remediation (Alexander et al., 2016), the original curriculum employed for this research project presents students with rhetorical concepts in overtly multimodal, digital contexts and then asks them to recognize the remediated concepts in print. By the end of the semester, students were tasked with adapting three or more concepts from a digital source for an original print-based research paper. The dissertation examines the efficacy of the adaptive transfer pedagogical approach by asking: (1) To what extent can students develop a meta-awareness that allows them to reshape rhetorical knowledge across media? (2) What aspects of a digital-to-print adaptive transfer pedagogy enhance or deny such transfer? (3) Does the pedagogy foster other types of knowledge transfer such as composing processes, student attitudes or dispositions, and/or other literacies? Using inductive coding, descriptive analysis, student work samples, and three single-case studies, this qualitative teacher-research found that the pedagogical approach resulted in ten of the fifteen student participants demonstrating the capacity for digital-to-print adaptive transfer during a single semester. To increase the potential for adaptive rhetorical knowledge transfer within and without the first-year composition classroom, the dissertation argues that writing instructors need to provide extensive time for students to explore key concepts within digital spaces, explicit instruction on academic writing genres, guidance and oversight with recursive reflective writing, and opportunities for developing conceptual writing knowledge such as goal-setting peer review sessions and Òcritical incidentsÓ (Yancey et al., 2014).Item Ethical Dilemmas in Documenting the Kwoma Language (Papua New Guinea)(2013-10) Lambert-Brétière, RenéeItem Making the most out of the past: Retrieving and archiving old records of the Innu language(2013-12) Drapeau, Lynn; Lambert-Brétière, RenéeItem Non-standard transcription of Innu: An essential ingredient of its documentation(2015) Drapeau, Lynn; Lambert-Brétière, Renée; Mollen, YvetteItem Serial Verb Constructions in Caribbean Creoles(2016-01-09) Lambert-Brétière, RenéeItem The Grammar of Smelling in Fon(2020) Lambert-Brétière, RenéeItem Proper Nouns(Innu-aimun, 2023-04-26) Lambert-Brétière, RenéeItem Renée Lambert-Brétière – Democratizing Access to Digital Tools in the Documentation of the Innu Language(The Academic Minute, 2023-09-20) Academic MinuteOn University of Maryland Baltimore County Week: Digital tools can help preserve languages that may otherwise become extinct. Renée Lambert-Brétière, associate professor of linguistics, looks into democratizing the process of documentation.Item Landmarks and Kwoma identity(EL Publishing, 2018-12) Lambert-Brétière, RenéeThis paper discusses how various landmarks serve as symbols of identity for the Kwoma, a people living in the East-Sepik Province of Papua New Guinea, and suggest that geographical space is constructed as an anchor for culturally-construed realities. Three different ideologies are analysed — the origin of the Kwoma people, their history, and their myths — to illustrate how location encapsulates a variety of meanings that serve as identity builders. I argue that the different place-names and landmarks reflect the ideology of landownership that counts every indigenous citizen as a customary landowner (Filer 2006), and that territoriality, i.e., the influence and control over a geographic area (Sack 1986), is determinant of the Kwoma identity.Item Relabeling and Word Order: A Construction Grammar Perspective(Oxford University Press, 2014-11-20) Lefebvre, Claire; Lambert-Brétière, RenéeWord order in creoles does not systematically reflect that of either of their contributing languages. This puzzle has generated a significant amount of research from different perspectives. On the basis of a sample of Caribbean creoles, this chapter addresses the question of how word order is established in a relabeling-based account of creole genesis within the framework of Radical Construction Grammar framework. In this framework, word order is not specified as part of atomic constructions. Rather, it is specified as part of the constructions in which individual words appear (e.g., [Q DEF ADJ N]). It has been shown that this model allows for a straightforward and principled account of how the different word orders are established in creole genesis.