Putting the fourth crow in the sky: Using narrative to understand the experiences of one non-heritage learner of an endangered language
Abstract Building on contemporary approaches to narrative analysis, this article examines how one non-heritage learner of an endangered Native American language described his experiences of learning Lenape in a college course. Analysis of a multimodal digital narrative created as a course project demonstrates the ways that this student employed a legend as a metanarrative to contextualize his individual language learning journey as part of a broader linguistic and cultural revitalization movement. Structural elements of the narrative downplay the narrator's individual role and agency in studying the language, showing ways that this learner negotiated his position and privilege in learning a language previously only spoken by members of the Lenape cultural community. The article considers the utility of narrative analysis and the constructs of investment and imagined communities in a language revitalization context.