Identifying Sociotextual Nodes in the Academic Knowledge Industry: 'Multiliteracies' Research and Discursive Appropriation

This article proposes the concept of "sociotextuality" to explain the accumulation of symbolic academic authority, with a specific focus on the evolving discourse of "multiliteracies." Examining how Western academia has asserted dominance in research about multimodal literacy practices despite the rich literacy traditions of non-Western communities, the study scrutinizes the erasure of the Iranian context from multiliteracies scholarship. The article traces the phases of this erasure, from treating the Iranian context as raw data for Western theorization to rebranding borrowed knowledge as a Western product under the name of "multiliteracies"--ultimately leading to its repurposing in new forms, such as the digital turn in literacy. The analysis centers on the role of "textual materiality" as the primary medium of academic communication, exploring how intertextual connections, citations, and genre practices have contributed to the transfiguration of the multiliteracies discourse. The study also discusses symbolic (alphabetic) collaborations that strategically have helped elevate Western scholars' status and authority within the discourse of multisemiotic literacy engagement.