The Quotation Theory of Writing

David R. Olson University of Toronto ; Keith Oatley University of Toronto

Abstract

Learning to read and write is seen as both the acquisition of skills useful in a modern society and an introduction to a world increasingly organized around the reading and writing of authoritative texts. While most agree on the importance of writing, insufficient attention has been given to the more basic question of just what writing is, that is, how best to think about writing as both a technology of communication and an instrument of thought. In this article we elaborate and defend the view that writing is distinctive not only as a technology for the visual representation of speech but more basically as a technology for taking language “off-line,” that is, as language enclosed by quotation marks. Writing, like oral quotation, provides a set of objects divorced from the speaker that persist in time and space and that can be considered and reconsidered somewhat independently of the context of expression and the intentions of the original author. Of special relevance are the units of meaning, namely, words and sentences. When writing turns words and sentences into objects of analysis, it facilitates distinctive modes of discourse such as extended prose and distinctive modes of thinking such as formal rationality.

Journal
Written Communication
Published
2014-01-01
DOI
10.1177/0741088313515164
Open Access
Closed
Topics

Citation Context

Cited by in this index (2)

  1. Written Communication
  2. Written Communication

Cites in this index (0)

No references match articles in this index.

Also cites 33 works outside this index ↓
  1. 10.1017/CBO9780511621031.018
  2. 10.2307/1130872
  3. 10.1017/CBO9780511609664.006
  4. 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195333213.001.0001
  5. 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195159912.003.0010
  6. 10.1075/ssol.2.1.02dji
  7. 10.11647/OBP.0012
  8. 10.1057/9780230206472_1
  9. 10.1017/CBO9780511609664.009
  10. 10.17763/haer.53.2.g60313734325163n
    Harvard Educational Review  
  11. 10.1017/S0047404500016754
  12. 10.2307/2804055
  13. 10.4324/9780203879481
  14. 10.1017/CBO9780511609664.004
  15. 10.4159/9780674038431
  16. 10.1037/0003-066X.41.10.1106
  17. 10.1017/CBO9780511621031.006
  18. 10.1075/wll.2.1.07hom
  19. 10.1037/0033-295X.103.3.582
  20. 10.1163/9780585473932
  21. 10.1017/CBO9780511621031.019
  22. 10.1037/1089-2680.12.1.9
  23. 10.1037/a0018775
  24. 10.17763/haer.47.3.8840364413869005
  25. 10.1007/s11229-007-9209-2
  26. 10.1093/wsr/wsp005
  27. 10.4324/9780203328064
  28. 10.1080/0013188660090109
  29. 10.4159/harvard.9780674433014
  30. 10.1017/CBO9780511609664.008
  31. 10.1515/9781400820382
  32. 10.1075/wll.15.2.03vel
  33. 10.1177/0142723708097561
CrossRef global citation count: 17 View in citation network →