ABSTRACT
This chapter presents a case study of the literacy practices of southern Sudanese refugee youth—the so-called “Lost Boys”—in Michigan. It illustrates just a complexity among Sudanese refugees to answer several questions, derived from Luke (2003), about literacy practices among the Sudanese refugees: What does literacy mean to the Sudanese refugees? Which life domains characterize literacy practices for Sudanese refugees? How are different languages used across and within these domains? and In what ways do school literacies align or fail to align with those used in the wider community?. According to one participant in this study, “Sudan has never been a peaceful country.” There have been many internal wars in the Sudan; the current civil war began in 1983 when the southern Sudanese organized an uprising against the northern-dominated Sudanese government. The current war is the result of centuries of deep ethnic and religious divisions.
