The "problem space" for literacy studies represented below is meant to be metaphorical and suggestive at best; mental models are probably not laid out in a Cartesian coordinate system! For one thing, the axes represent very different "scales":

The complex systems  axis represents a continuum of increasing scope and complexity--from symbol systems such as the alphabet through symbolic artifacts such as the book, modes of reading and writing, and cultural institutions--a hierarchy in which features to the left are constitutive of features to the right. Causal relations may move right to left or be reciprocal.

The history  axis represents a continuum over time and cultural change. Earlier technologies and the cultural forms associated with them are often retained but transformed as one moves forward in time.

The cultural contexts  axis represents not a continuum but the intersections of many separate axes of difference that characterize a particular cultural context, differences such as race, class, gender, geographical region, education, occupation, and so on.

While these axes cannot be precisely plotted against one another, this model can help us think critically about the relationships among various aspects of, studies of, and arguments about, literacy.