Editorial

We are very pleased to present you the latest issue of Bakhtiniana (v.9, n. 2). This is due to two main reasons: Firstly because, once again, we have received countless contributions from the academic community, to whom we are very grateful for responding to the theme proposed and for allowing the publication of a quality issue; secondly because, as our readers will see, we are sure this issue contributes importantly to the debate over a fundamental theme related to current education: literacy.

Although there were no specific restrictions on our call for submission, it is worth mentioning that it specially drew the attention of Brazilian researchers (we know how hot the national education issue is!), many of whom have worked in this area for a long time and have become references in this field. In this sense, it is also important to highlight that the Bakhtin Circle's work has reached those studies, oftenly being alongside concepts from Applied Linguistics, Sociocultural Theory, the New London Group, among others. Thus, the articles generally articulate concepts such as responsible act, responsive subjects, speech genres, dialogy, active-responsive understanding under a historical, social and political perspective.

As readers will see, different authors discuss the concept of "literacy" from different and productive viewpoints. Briefly, we notice that some authors, such as Angela Kleiman (UNICAMP) in Literacy in the Contemporary Scene, Hilda A. Micarello & Tânia G. Magalhães (UFJF) in On Literacy, Language and School, and Maria Bernadete F. de Oliveira (UFRN) & Paula T. C. Szundy (UFRJ) in Multiliteracies Practices at School: For a Responsive Education to Contemporaneity, attempt to better define it by looking for its meanings and reach, whether from a theoretical or a practical perspective. Other authors write on what they define as specific literacies, which range from language teaching/learning process, such as in Between Acquiring and Learning a Language: Subjectivity and Polyphony by Maria José Coracini (UNICAMP) and in Literacy in English: a Bakhtinian Reflection from a Case Study by Maria de Fátima Fonseca Guilherme e João Bôsco Cabral dos Santos (UFU), to social practices, whether general, such as the literacy of the deaf, whose discussion on language and culture is done by Ana Claudia B. Lodi (USP), Elaine C. Bortolotti e Maria José Z. Cavalmoretti (Santa Cruz das Palmeiras City Hall) in Literacy of Deaf People: Language Social Practices between Two Languages/Cultures, or specific, such as in Academic/scientific literacy and legitimate peripheral participation: an ethnographic study of legal practice communities by Márcia Adriana D. Kraemer (FEMA/RS). Among these articles, it is possible to include Reflecting on Literacy and Responsiveness in Teacher Education by Antônio Carlos S. Lima (IFAL), Lúcia de Fátima Santos & Rita de Cássia S. M. Siqueira Lima (UFAL), who approach the issue under the perspective of literacy agents.

Many of the aforementioned articles discuss current issues related to the digital world as the one by Angela Kleiman; however, this debate is the focus of Hybrid Discursive Genres in the Hypermedia Era by Maria Lucia Santaella Braga (PUC/SP) and The Architecture of Virtual Learning Environments under the Conceptions of Bakhtinian Studies by Adolfo Tanzi Neto & Angela Lessa (PUC-SP). Finally, there are articles, such as Production of Different Literacies by João Wanderley Geraldi (UNICAMP) and The Concept of Literacy under Analysis: Towards a Discursive Perspective of Alphabetization by Cecília Goulart (UFF), in which the very concept of literacy is questioned.

These authors are from ten different states of Brazil and represent 12 higher education institutions, whether federal, state, or private. Moreover, this issue of Bakhtiniana presents three reviews of recently published books done by authors who represent three higher education institutions in the state of São Paulo. The first one, on Narrativas do exílio: Cosmopolitismo além da imaginação liberal [Narratives of Exile: Cosmopolitanism beyond the Liberal Imagination] by Galin Tihanov, allows us to reflect upon the issue of nationality and authorship beyond political and geographical bounds. The second review was on Mikhail Bakhtin's Questões de estilística no ensino da língua [Stylistics in Teaching Russian Language in Secondary School¹], which has a broad didactic/pedagogical range and whose version to Portuguese had not been done before. The third review was on Estudo dialógico-discursivo da canção popular brasileira [Dialogic-Discursive Study of Brazilian Popular Song] by Álvaro Antônio Caretta, which is of interest even to those who study Brazilian identity.

Again, we would like to thank MCTI/CNPq/MEC/CAPES (Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation/ Brazilian National Research Council/ The Brazilian Ministry of Education/ Brazilian Federal Agency for Support and Evaluation of Graduate Education) and PUC-SP for the support they have provided so that this Bakhtiniana issue could be published. We wish you all an excellent read.

Beth Brait & Maria Helena Cruz Pistori

Translated by Orison Marden Bandeira de Melo Jr. – [e-mail]

1

TN. We opted to use the title of the English version of this work, which was translated from Russian by Lydia Razran Stone and published in the Journal of Russian and European Psychology, vol. 42, no. 6, November-December 2004, pp. 12-49.

Publication Dates

• Publication in this collection
  01 Dec 2014
• Date of issue
  Dec 2014