ABSTRACT
At the heart of this chapter is a call for teachers, academics and researchers to understand and investigate the relationship between critical literacy, fictionality, meaning making and power, in order to undertake, promote and illustrate the potential of contemporary literatures for transformative learning that contributes to a more equitable social order. The chapter begins with an instance of learning in the classroom. From this vignette, we identify key concepts we feel represent what it means to work with contemporary literatures from a critical literacy perspective. After identifying significant issues and the critical work needed with contemporary literatures, the chapter then discusses the pedagogical and research implications of these issues. We also address the responsibilities and knowledge about and around contemporary literatures required by academics to most effectively enact critical literacy. We end the chapter with a call to action in the form of recommendations for future research and praxis.
