JOINT COMPOSITION - THE COLLABORATIVE LETTER WRITING OF A SCRIBE AND HIS CLIENT IN MEXICO

Although notions of literacy tend to be dominated by images of solitar y readers and writers, collaboration and assistance with reading and w riting are widespread practices. are This article presents a detailed description of a scribe and his client in Mexico producing a letter th rough joint composition, a term used to refer to letter-writing episod es involving two or more active participants. Through an examination o f the discussions that occurred between the scribe and the client, the analysis illustrates how both actors contributed to the final outcome . This article discusses how the participants negotiated their points of view and pooled their knowledge to produce a specific type of docum ent in accordance with their expectations and purposes. The analysis s uggests that joint composition is the outcome of multiple contextual e lements: authority gender, and literacy competency. It further conclud es that scribing is a complex, heterogeneous literacy activity.