How do we define the concept and expression of literacy? Do reading and writing by themselves make people literate? How should we measure the relationship between literacy and intelligence? According to Anthony La Vopa and Jack Censer, social historians should avoid distortion or nostalgia that can result by explaining earlier cultural concepts of literacy in twentieth-century terms. For instance, with the rise of modern education, literacy becomes a means for individual economic competition. In contrast, in previous historical periods, concepts of literacy stemmed less from economics than from cultural norms, illustrated by examples in France, Germany, and the United States.
At the time of this interview, La Vopa, a Fellow at the National Humanities Center (1983-84, 1998-99), was professor of history at North Carolina State University. Censer was professor of history at George Mason University.
This edition of Soundings was conducted by Wayne J. Pond.
