Authorship as assemblage : multimodal literacies of play, literature, and drama

• Main Author: Winters, Kari-Lynn
• Language: English
• Published: University of British Columbia 2010
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/2429/21723

This thesis draws on Social Symbolic Mediation Theory, Social Semiotics, and Discursive Positioning Theories to explore a theoretical model I call “Authorship as Assemblage.” This model considers authorship broadly; it posits that authors are “declared, hidden, or withdrawn” contributors of multimodal meanings who orchestrate an array of semiotic resources, social (inter)actions, and discursive positions within and across a variety of social contexts (Barthes, 1970, p. 110). A literature review and three case studies suggest some of the ways multimodal authorship can be theorized and explored within and across social contexts, including a child’s out-of-school environments, during professional picturebook-making collaboration, and in a summer camp where youth explore playbuilding. By considering authorship broadly, its significance in the multiple fields of study can be seen. Findings of the thesis include that authorship can not be thought of as a isolated or stable phenomenon, for it is bound up with semiotic, social, and critical meanings that interrelate with and interanimate each other.