Rhetoric Review Sep 1999

Beyond discourse communities: Orthodoxies and the rhetoric of sectarianism

Dale L. Sullivan Michigan Technological University

Abstract

In Rescuing Discourse of Community, Gregory Clark hinted that pedagogy based on theory of discourse was in a state of crisis. In this article Clark put forward a theory of ethical participation that he believed would rescue attempts characterize writing classrooms as discourse communities. But even as he did so, he acknowledged that pedagogical practices based on rhetoric of discourse can put into motion processes that tend minimize or exclude participation of some people as they establish dominance of others (61). Others shared same concern. Joseph Harris had argued, goals as teachers need not be initiate our students into values and practices of some new community, but offer them chance reflect critically on those discourses (19). Marilyn Cooper warned that discourse may develop static standards, which are then used to determine who is and who is not a member of (204). Mary Louise Pratt characterized them as imaginary utopian communities that do not accurately represent fractured reality (50-51). Carolyn Miller said the domination of communal is a political and rhetorical problem because it seems restrict and control what can be said, what can ever be found persuasive (Rhetoric and Community 86). And Jim W. Corder, who likened discourse tribes, said that being part of such tribes represses individual's own capacities for observation, thus violating private virtues (306). These critics did not actually deny that discourse exist. Most accepted that discourse communities, like Dell Hymes' communities, exist and that they are that share rules for conduct and interpretation of speech (Hymes 54). But assumption that writing classroom constitutes such a community soon became untenable. Meanwhile, study of discourse flourished on another front as researchers investigated disciplinary and professional discourse. As Charlotte Thralls and Nancy Roundy Blyler say, the concept of a discourse community has given researchers a way talk about workplace writing in both industrial and academic settings (8). Among those doing such work, Greg Myers analyzed

Journal
Rhetoric Review
Published
1999-09-01
DOI
10.1080/07350199909359261
CompPile
Open Access
Closed
Topics
rhetorical criticism discourse analysis writing pedagogy professional writing
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Citation Context

Cited by in this index (1)

  1. Young (2001)
    Defending Child Medical Neglect: Christian Science Persuasive Rhetoric
    Rhetoric Review

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