Imagined communities and identities: A spaciotemporal discourse analysis of one woman's literacy journey

This study investigates the narratives of Marla, a 25-year old bilingual and biliterate transnational Latina mother. Data for this study came from an overarching ethnographic narrative inquiry study that investigated how five women tutors in a neighborhood literacy initiative constructed, enacted, and expressed their literacy identities. Marla's narratives illuminated a spatial and temporal framework that warranted a closer, more nuanced look at how she positioned herself in time and space. The authors inquired into what Marla's narratives suggested about her constructions of literacy and identity. Specifically, we focus on Marla's use of deictics, which illuminated a sophisticated storying of self that she used to position herself as a global citizen, a good student, and a mature family woman. Findings highlight how Marla restoried herself, constructing a new “now” self that she actualized in the present as she imagined a new future for her and her family.