CULTURAL CONSTELLATIONS AND CHILDHOOD IDENTITIES - ON GREEK GODS, CARTOON HEROES, AND THE SOCIAL LIVES OF SCHOOLCHILDREN

In this article, Anne Haas Dyson examines the social and ideological p rocesses undergirding children's use of media symbols, especially the superhero, as material for story construction and social affiliation. Dyson draws upon an ethnographic project in an urban school serving ch ildren from different racial and socioeconomic groups. The project foc used on children's participation in composing and in dramatic play act ivities within the official (teacher-governed) and unofficial (peel-go verned) school worlds. Dyson uses project data to illustrate children' s use of cultural symbols as material for story construction and socia l affiliation. She then shows, using children's diverse responses to a n unofficial performance of a superhero story, how children negotiate with text and each other. Finally, she argues for a literacy curriculu m in which cultural symbols are open to playful appropriation and crit ical examination.