The History of Illiteracy in the Modern World Since 1750

This Palgrave Pivot examines the history of literacy with illiterate and semi-literate people in mind, and questions the clear division between literacy and illiteracy which has often been assumed by social and economic historians. Instead, it turns the spotlight on all those in-between, the millions who had some literacy skills, but for whom reading and writing posed difficulties. Its main focus is on those we have often labelled illiterates, rather than those who enjoyed full competence in reading and writing in modern society. In offering a historical perspective on the problem of illiteracy in the modern world, it also questions some enduring myths surrounding the phenomenon. This book therefore has a revisionist objective: it intends to challenge conventional wisdom about illiteracy. Martyn Lyons is Professor Emeritus in History at the University of New South Wales, Australia Contents Chapter 1: Introduction: Illiteracy Myths The Literacy Spectrum A Multi-Disciplinary Approach Splendour and Misery of the Signature Test What Was Illiteracy? Chapter 2: The War on Illiteracy How Illiteracy Got Its Stigma Illiteracy, Orality and ‘Backwardness’ Campaigns Against Illiteracy Stamping Out Illiteracy: USSR and Nicaragua Paulo Freire Chapter 3: Illiteracy and Power The Oral and the Illiterate Denying the Right to Literacy Parental Censorship Choosing Illiteracy Chapter 4: Illiteracy and Schooling Illiteracy Panics The Limitations of Formal Schooling Becoming Literate Without Schools The Demand for Literacy Chapter 5: The Literary Culture of the Illiterate The City as a Text Reading and Listening Delegated Writing World War One as a National Literacy Test Illiterates Count Invisible Illiteracy Chapter 6: The Literacy Continuum Historicising Illiteracy Imperfect Literacies The Example of China Select Bibliography Index