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Appropriating others' words: Traces of literature and peer culture in a third-grader's writing

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  19 February 2009

Timothy J. Lensmire  and
Diane E. Beals
Timothy J. Lensmire
Affiliation:
Department of Education, Campus Box 1183, Washington University, St. Louis, MO 63130
Diane E. Beals
Affiliation:
Department of Education, Campus Box 1183, Washington University, St. Louis, MO 63130
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Abstract

Mikhail Bakhtin's notion of appropriation is a potentially powerful way to conceptualize discourse development in children. Typically, studies of discourse development have emphasized structural aspects of text. However, children appropriate not only forms, but also words, themes, purposes, and styles. From a developmental point of view, the concept of appropriation raises at least three questions: What is it that children appropriate? Where do they get their material? And what do they do with that material? In an attempt to make sense of appropriation as a developmental construct, we examine one third-grader's writing: Suzanne's book, The missing piece. We find that Suzanne appropriated material from two major sources: (a) adult-authored text – Margaret Sidney's novel, Five little Peppers and how they grew – and (b) the meanings and values of a stratified local peer culture. We conclude by discussing the significance of this work for future research on children's discourse development. (Discourse development, Mikhail Bakhtin, peer culture, social context of writing, children's writing, appropriation)

Type
Articles
Information
Language in Society , Volume 23 , Issue 3 , June 1994 , pp. 411 - 426
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1994

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