Prediscursive Technical Communication in the Early American Iron Industry

Carol Siri Johnson New Jersey Institute of Technology

Abstract

Examing the discourse surrounding the charcoal iron industry between 1760 and 1860 in North America, this article suggests that, prior to the industrialization of work, technical communication took place in a prediscursive setting, an oral and physical world that we can just manage to glimpse even as we watch it recede. The letters of Robert Erskine written in 1770 illustrate the prediscursive methods of technical communication. By the 1860s, a flood of governmental, professional, and commercial publications appeared, each signifying the disappearance of this prediscursive world. This transition from prediscursive to discursive methods may mark one of the largest changes in the history of technical communication.

Journal
Technical Communication Quarterly
Published
2006-04-01
DOI
10.1207/s15427625tcq1502_3
CompPile
Search in CompPile ↗
Open Access
OA PDF Bronze
Topics
Export

Citation Context

Cited by in this index (7)

  1. Technical Communication Quarterly
  2. Technical Communication Quarterly
  3. Technical Communication Quarterly
  4. Journal of Technical Writing and Communication
  5. IEEE Transactions on Professional Communication
Show all 7 →
  1. IEEE Transactions on Professional Communication
  2. Journal of Technical Writing and Communication

References (28) · 4 in this index

  1. Baer, C. T. (1998). A guide to the records of the American Iron & Steel Institute. Hagley Museum and Library,…
  2. Boyer, C. S. (1931). Early forges & furnaces in New Jersey. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press.
  3. Journal of Technical Writing and Communication
  4. Journal of Technical Writing and Communication
  5. Brockman, R. J. (1998). From millwrights to shipwrights to the twenty-first century: Explorations in a histor…
Show all 28 →
  1. Chard, J. (1995). Making iron & steel: The historical processes, 1700-1900 (3rd ed.). Ringwood, NJ: North Jer…
  2. 10.2307/3594252
    College English  
  3. Erskine, R. (1770). Letters to R. Atkinson. Available from New Jersey State Archives, 225 West State Street, …
  4. Ferguson, E. S. (1992). Engineering and the mind's eye (5th ed.). Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
  5. Gordon, R. B. (1996). American iron, 1607-1900. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press.
  6. Hasenclever, P. (1970). The remarkable case of Peter Hasenclever, merchant. 1773. Ringwood, NJ: North Jersey …
  7. Kitchell, W. (1856). Second annual report on the geological survey, of the state of New Jersey, for the year …
  8. Kirk, E. (1911). A practical treatise on foundry irons. Philadelphia: Henry Carey Baird & Co.
  9. Lesley, J. P. (1859). The iron manufacturer's guide to the furnaces, forges and rolling mills of the United S…
  10. Lesley, J. P. (1876). Historical sketch of geological explorations in Pennsylvania and other states. Harrisbu…
  11. Longo, B. (2000). Spurious coin: A history of science, management and technical writing. Albany: State Univer…
  12. 10.1080/00335638409383686
    Quarterly Journal of Speech  
  13. Moran, M. G. (1985). The history of technical and scientific writing. In M. G. Moran & D. Journet (Eds.), Res…
  14. Technical Communication Quarterly
  15. Technical Communication Quarterly
  16. Ong, W. J. (1988). Orality and literacy: The technologizing of the word. New York: Routledge. (Original work …
  17. Overman, F. (1852). A treatise on metallurgy. New York: D. Appleton & Company.
  18. Overman, F. (1854). The manufacture of iron, in all its various branches (3rd ed.). Philadelphia: Henry C. Baird.
  19. Rivers, W. E. (1999). Studies in the history of business and technical writing: A bibliographical essay. In T…
  20. Rogers, H. D. (1858). The geology of Pennsylvania. Philadelphia: Lippincott.
  21. Tebeaux, E. (1997). The emergence of a tradition: Technical writing in the English Renaissance, 1475-1640. Am…
  22. Wearing, J. (2004, September). Forging the future: Morris County's iron industry. Lecture presented at the Mo…
  23. Yates, J. (1989). Control through communication: The rise of system in American management. Baltimore: Johns …