Cultural Constellations and Childhood Identities: On Greek Gods, Cartoon Heroes, and the Social Lives of Schoolchildren

In this article, Anne Haas Dyson examines the social and ideological processes undergirding children's use of media symbols, especially the superhero, as material for story construction and social affiliation. Dyson draws upon an ethnographic project in an urban school serving children from different racial and socioeconomic groups. The project focused on children's participation in composing and in dramatic play activities within the official (teacher-governed) and unofficial (peer-governed) school worlds. Dyson uses project data to illustrate children's use of cultural symbols as material for story construction and social affiliation. She then shows, using children's diverse responses to an unofficial performance of a superhero story, how children negotiate with text and each other. Finally, she argues for a literacy curriculum in which cultural symbols are open to playful appropriation and critical examination.