Technical Communication Quarterly Oct 2003

Archaeology Reports: When Context Becomes an Active Agent in the Rhetorical Process

Ken Baake

Abstract

Abstract This article explores the writing of archaeologists to argue that the metaphor of context-as-rhetorical-situation may understate the power that context has to shape scientific discourse. The author offers instead the metaphor of context-as-active-agent in the rhetorical situation—one that sometimes reifies values that are dangerous to the archaeologists' belief systems. As scholars of technical writing, we must develop a greater understanding of the subtle but powerful influences that context wields on the writing we read and help to produce.

Journal
Technical Communication Quarterly
Published
2003-10-01
DOI
10.1207/s15427625tcq1204_3
Open Access
Closed

Citation Context

Cited by in this index (3)

  1. Codding et al. (2019)
    Scientific Emergence and Instantiation Part II: Assembling Synthetic Biology 20…
    Journal of Business and Technical Communication
  2. Faber (2006)
    Popularizing Nanoscience: The Public Rhetoric of Nanotechnology, 1986–1999
    Technical Communication Quarterly
  3. Williams (2006)
    Tracing W. E. B. DuBois' “Color Line” in Government Regulations
    Journal of Technical Writing and Communication

Cites in this index (0)

No references match articles in this index.

Also cites 2 works outside this index ↓
  1. Boyd, Douglas K. "Introduction." Phase I Cultural Resources Investigations at lusticeburg Reservoir on the Do…
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  2. Boyd, Douglas K., and Martha Doty Freeman. "Assessments and Recommendations." Archaeological Surwey of Wildli…
     ↗
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