ABSTRACT
In the previous chapter, we examined how various social groups made use of literacy, the patterns of their interactions with written texts, and the characteristics of the texts themselves. The individual as text user was understood as a reflection of membership within these various groups. In this chapter, the focus shifts to an analysis of the nature of knowledge itself-epistemology-and text interpretation-hermeneutics. Here, we are interested in the individual as text critic. Although knowledge can be realized through a variety of sign systems (e.g., art, music, dance), written language continues to be a primary avenue through which ideas are expressed and promoted in Western cultures. Therefore, the written texts that are actually produced and consumed within a society and the knowledge reflected in these texts are critical parts of the sociocultural dimension of literacy.
