Literacy, Emotion and Authority: Reading and Writing on a Polynesian Atoll(Studies in the Social and Cultural Foundations of Language)

Series: Studies in the Social and Cultural Foundations of Language

In this study Niko Besnier analyzes the transformation of the Polynesian community of Nukulaelae from a nonliterate into a literate society, using a contemporary perspective that emphasizes literacy as a social practice embedded in a socio-cultural context. His case study, which has implications for understanding literacy in other societies, illuminates the relationship between norm and practice,