Technical communication in the 21st century: Where are we going?

Technical Communication Quarterly Mar 1999

Technical communication in the 21st century: Where are we going?

M. Jimmie Killingsworth Texas A&M University

Abstract

Instead of offering a predictive “history” of the future, this essay explores how we arrive at our attitudes toward the future and the effects of such attitudes toward current practice. We greet the future with attitudes prepared by myths, master narratives that guide our vision of who we are and what we are becoming. One key myth in our discipline, the myth of immediate communication, proves an unreliable guide to the future. Readings in science fiction serve to demonstrate how a critique of the immediacy myth might proceed. The essay argues for a critically informed, open‐minded approach to the future, an approach that encourages an honest self‐criticism within the discipline.

Journal: Technical Communication Quarterly
Published: 1999-03-01
DOI: 10.1080/10572259909364657
Open Access: Closed
Topics: technical communication

Citation Context

Cited by in this index (3)

St.Amant et al. (2016)

Addressing the Incommensurable

Journal of Technical Writing and Communication
Henning et al. (2016)

Reconsidering Power and Legitimacy in Technical Communication

Journal of Technical Writing and Communication
Bridgeford (2006)

REVIEW

Technical Communication Quarterly

Cites in this index (0)

No references match articles in this index.

CrossRef global citation count: 10 View in citation network →