Rhetoric Society Quarterly May 2018

Genre: Permanence and Change

Carolyn R. Miller Schlumberger (Ireland) ; Amy J. Devitt Kutafin Moscow State Law University ; Victoria J. Gallagher Russian State Agrarian Correspondence University

Abstract

During the past 30 years, genre conceptualized as social action has been a generative framework for scholars, teachers, and rhetors alike. As a mid-level, mediating concept, genre balances stability and innovation, connecting theory and practice, agency and structure, form and substance. Genre is multimodal, providing an analytical and explanatory framework across semiotic modes and media and thus across communication technologies; multidisciplinary, of interest across traditions of rhetoric, as well as many other disciplines; multidimensional, incorporating many perspectives on situated, mediated, motivated communicative interaction; and multimethodological, yielding to multiple empirical and interpretive approaches. Because genre both shapes and is shaped by its communities, it provides insight into both ideological conformity and resistance, lends itself to multiple pedagogical agendas, and provokes questions about media, materiality, ethics, circulation, affect, and comparison.

Journal
Rhetoric Society Quarterly
Published
2018-05-27
DOI
10.1080/02773945.2018.1454194
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Open Access
Closed
Topics
rhetorical criticism genre theory writing pedagogy multimodality affect and writing
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Citation Context

Cited by in this index (11)

  1. Deptula et al. (2025)
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  3. Wang (2024)
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  4. Agbozo (2023)
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  2. Shi et al. (2022)
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  3. Weedon et al. (2021)
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  4. Cannon et al. (2021)
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  6. Orwig (2020)
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