“Ourselves among others”: A new metaphor for business and technical writing

Timothy Weiss University of Maine

Abstract

Business and technical writing grows out of a need to “build bridges” between ourselves and others. With today's diversifying readerships and increasingly global marketplace, business and industry face a new challenge that is reshaping our conception of business/technical writing and the metaphors of the genre. The metaphors of “selling” and “reader‐centeredness” demand especially to be recast and subordinated to a new metaphor of interculturalism/ internationalism—"ourselves among others.” Grounded in a social theory of language and communication, this new metaphor signifies that “bridge‐building” across differences will be the key in contexts becoming at once more heterogeneous and global.

Journal
Technical Communication Quarterly
Published
1992-06-01
DOI
10.1080/10572259209359504
Open Access
Closed
Topics

Citation Context

Cited by in this index (13)

  1. Technical Communication Quarterly
  2. Journal of Business and Technical Communication
  3. Journal of Technical Writing and Communication
  4. Journal of Technical Writing and Communication
  5. Journal of Business and Technical Communication
Show all 13 →
  1. Written Communication
  2. Journal of Business and Technical Communication
  3. Technical Communication Quarterly
  4. Journal of Business and Technical Communication
  5. Journal of Business and Technical Communication
  6. Technical Communication Quarterly
  7. Technical Communication Quarterly
  8. Journal of Business and Technical Communication

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Also cites 1 work outside this index ↓
  1. The Predicament of Culture.
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