Counternarratives

To understand contemporary times, we must appreciate the extent to which our lives are affected by the cultural and political struggle between "e;official"e; narratives and the counternarratives which emerge as oppositional responses. Counternarratives develops a concept of "e;postmodern counternarratives"e; as a frame for exploring the politics of media, technology and education within everyday struggles for human identities and loyalties. The authors identify two forms of counternarratives. One functions as a critique of the modernist propensity for grand narratives. The second concept, which is the focus of the book, builds on the first; the idea of "e;little stories"e; addressing cultural and political opposition to the "e;official"e; narratives used to manipulate public consciousness. Each marks an important point of contestation within contemporary education and culture: curriculum, pedagogy, literacy, media representations and applications of new technologies.