Description
Book SynopsisTrade Review"I leave Vieira’s book feeling deeply that ours is a crazy system: Why keep piling documents on top of documents, making of them a wall to the world? Why should migrants—people—have to choose between the time-consuming work of pursuing English or caring for their families? Why make migrant lives any harder than they already are? American by Paper urges us to rethink all that we ask of those who seek a better life."—Catherine Prendergast, University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign
"Relentless in its critique of literacy as a social practice and in its effort to develop a counter-narrative, American by Paper forces open a conversation that has been lingering but has not received the kind of attention it deserves."—Juan Guerra, University of Washington
"A riveting account of those pursuing the American Dream."—CHOICE
"Vieira aims to contribute to the social history of literacy with American By Paper, informing pedagogy and practice through a comprehensive consideration of literacy, documents, and bureaucracy in ordinary life." —PoLAR
Table of ContentsContents
Preface: An American with Papers
Acknowledgments
Introduction. How Documents Matter in Migrants’ Lives
1. Literacy and Assimilation in an Age of Papers: The View from South Mills
2. “American by Paper”: Azorean and Azorean American Literacy Lives
3. Undocumented in a Documentary Society: Brazilian Literacy Lives
4. “It’s Not Because of the English”: Literacy Lives of the Young
Conclusion. Lessons Learned from Transnational Lives: Toward a Sociomaterialist Literacy
Epilogue
Notes
Bibliography
Index
