This article examines the centrality of cultural resources or artifacts in the social process of “doing literacy.” Relying on recent developments in sociocultural theories of continuous identity formation, I argue that people employ cultural artifacts to “seem” literate, or to be seen as literate by others, and to “feel” literate, that is, to develop a sense of themselves as literate. Drawing on ethnographic fieldwork in Brazil, I show how youth and adult literacy students use cultural artifacts in their efforts to perform literacy. In conclusion, I discuss the potential of sociocultural theories of identity formation for the field of literacy studies.
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