ABSTRACT
In this Monster Mutation, I discuss literacy workshops in relation to Latour’s writing on monsters. In Latour’s writing he articulates that Dr. Frankenstein’s crime is not that he invented a creature, but rather that he abandoned the creature to itself. For me, it’s not a crime so to speak that we created literacy workshops. Workshops have done great good for children’s identities as writers, for teachers’ pedagogical growth, and for communities of learners and citizens (but at the same time some might argue that they’ve also done violence and harm). However, according with Latour’s line of thinking perhaps the crime is that we (a collective, literacy community) have failed to care for and with workshops. Any technology can become a monster—workshops are no exception—and in this mutation I explore monstrous workshops.
