ABSTRACT
Drawing on Anzadlúa’s theory of nepantla and Mignolo’s concept of border thinking, we argue that border literacies teach children to not only read the word, but the world through a border lived experience. In this chapter, we aim to theorize a new type of literacy that is unique to those who traverse linguistic, cultural, metaphorical, and literal borders. Using contemporary education literature, we highlight the use of border literacies in practice and begin to conceptualize how a person’s lived experiences inform their duality and the thinking that it begets. While sociocultural theories of literacy speak to the relations and hierarchical aspects of literacy, we center the lived experiences of border people to consider colonial and imperial legacies. Thus, we reframe practices such as testimonio and translanguaging within a border literacy framework. Lastly, we discuss implications for theory and practices as we continue to expound these theories.
