Beyond the Dark Closet: Reconsidering Literacy Narratives as Performative Artifacts

<p>Pedagogical theories celebrate and romanticize literacy narratives as emancipatory to the lives of students and teachers. In the particular context of basic writing, such discussions warrant critique. The author argues that perceptions of literacy narratives as transformative to writers and readers often reinforce a "model minority" belief along with "storyteller-subject" and "pedagogue-master" asymmetries, even when intending to challenge these dynamics. Furthermore, these perceptions enable and sustain a problematic trajectory that polarizes darkness and enlightenment. Through an examination of coming out narrative conventions that align with and depart from literacy narratives, this article explores key debates about closetedness that can reframe storytellers as making performative choices rather than being characterized as passive objects of study.</p>