Mestiz@ Scripts, Digital Migrations, And The Territories Of Writing

Common assumptions about written communication depend upon the alphabet as a precondition for literacy. By privileging the alphabet, pictographic and non-verbal writing systems of Mesoamerica become obscured. Contemporary Mestiz@ scripts, however, undermine alphabetic dominance and defy the territories of "writing." By strategically fusing and embellishing Mesoamerican inscriptions into Western alphabets, Mestiz@ expressions promote new strategies for inventing and writing between worlds. Moreover, these practices support historically sound accounts of how recorded information changes across cultures and time. Beyond emerging studies of visual/electronic literacy, Mestiz@ scripts advance "new" ways of reading, writing, and learning, fundamentally altering the character of 21st century education.

About the Author:
Damian Baca is assistant professor of Rhetoric & Writing, Chicano-Latino studies, and American Indian studies at the University of Arizona