Written Communication Jul 2020

Technical Standards and a Theory of Writing as Infrastructure

Jordan Frith Clemson University

Abstract

Infrastructures support and shape our social world, but they do so in often invisible ways. In few cases is that truer than with various documents that serve infrastructural functions. This article takes one type of those documents—technical standards—and uses analysis of one specific standard to develop theory related to the infrastructural function of writing. The author specifically analyzes one of the major infrastructures of the Internet of Things—the 126-page Tag Data Standard (TDS)—to show how rethinking writing as infrastructure can be valuable for multiple conversations occurring with writing studies, including research on material rhetoric, research that expands the scope of what should be studied as writing, and research in writing studies that links with emerging fields. The author concludes by developing a model for future research on the infrastructural functions of writing.

Journal
Written Communication
Published
2020-07-01
DOI
10.1177/0741088320916553
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Open Access
Closed
Topics
rhetorical criticism body and rhetoric
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Citation Context

Cited by in this index (21)

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CrossRef global citation count: 27 View in citation network → Build reading path →

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