Technical Communication Quarterly Oct 1996

The Postmodern Space of Operator's Manuals

Marilyn M. Cooper

Abstract

Most operator's manuals are examples of failed rhetoric: discourse that fails to inform, to persuade, or even to be read. By moving from a tacit reliance on a modernist model of communication that emphasizes the transfer of information to a postmodem model that emphasizes the communication of understanding, and by applying two principles of negotiating understanding—encouraging users to denaturalize their common sense and encouraging users to take their share of responsibility for the safe and effective use of technologies—technical writers can construct manuals that are more likely to succeed rhetorically and legally.

Journal
Technical Communication Quarterly
Published
1996-10-01
DOI
10.1207/s15427625tcq0504_2
Open Access
Closed
Topics
multimodality

Citation Context

Cited by in this index (10)

  1. Fiss (2026)
    “No Mining Engineer Could Be a Lady”: A Historical Case Study of Drag and Humor…
    Technical Communication Quarterly
  2. Wilson et al. (2017)
    The Technical Communicator as (Post-Postmodern) Discourse Worker
    Journal of Business and Technical Communication
  3. Alexander (2013)
    The Usability of Print and Online Video Instructions
    Technical Communication Quarterly
  4. Jeyaraj (2004)
    Liminality and Othering
    Journal of Business and Technical Communication
  5. Praetorius (2002)
    Technical Communicators as Purveyors of Common Sense
    Journal of Technical Writing and Communication
Show all 10 →
  1. Wilson (2001)
    Technical Communication and Late Capitalism
    Journal of Business and Technical Communication
  2. Kitalong (2000)
    “You Will”
    Journal of Business and Technical Communication
  3. Coppola (1999)
    Setting the discourse community: Tasks and assessment for the new technical com…
    Technical Communication Quarterly
  4. Nagelhout (1999)
    Pre‐professional practices in the technical writing classroom: Promoting multip…
    Technical Communication Quarterly
  5. Mirel et al. (1998)
    Social and cognitive effects of professional communication on software usability
    Technical Communication Quarterly

Cites in this index (2)

  1. SLACK et al. (1993)
    The Technical Communicator as Author
    Journal of Business and Technical Communication
  2. Helyar (1992)
    Products Liability: Meeting Legal Standards for Adequate Instructions
    Journal of Technical Writing and Communication
Also cites 3 works outside this index ↓
  1. 10.2307/358988
     ↗
  2. Jameson, Fredric. "Cognitive Mapping." Marxism and the Intetpretation of Culture. Ed. Cary Nelson and Lawrenc…
     ↗
  3. Killingsworth, M. Jimmie, and Michael K. Gilbertson. Signs, Genres, and Communities in Technical Communic&. A…
     ↗
CrossRef global citation count: 13 View in citation network →

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