Journal of Business and Technical Communication Jan 2006

Technology Artifacts, Instrumentalism, and the Humanist Manifestos

Michael Knievel Wyoming Department of Education

Abstract

Since the late 1970s, technical communication scholars and teachers have largely agreed that technical communication’s humanistic character can be found in the field’s rhetorical nature and the social nature of discourse. Building on Patrick Moore’s efforts to rehabilitate “instrumental discourse” in the face of such general consensus, this essay argues that such notions of technical communication’s humanistic character, although unquestionably groundbreaking and crucial to the field’s sense of self and mission, remain too deeply indebted to traditional academic humanities’ and English studies’ constructions of humanistic purview, which largely refuse to accommodate technology, especially physical technology artifacts. Considering alternatives that recast the technology-humanities relationship and situate technology within a humanistic framework can yield benefits for both technical communication and English studies broadly construed.

Journal
Journal of Business and Technical Communication
Published
2006-01-01
DOI
10.1177/1050651905281040
Open Access
Closed
Topics
technical communication

Citation Context

Cited by in this index (10)

  1. Jiang et al. (2024)
    From Hype to Practice: Reinterpreting the Writing Process Through Technical Wri…
    Technical Communication Quarterly
  2. Lucia et al. (2024)
    “I Feel Like I’m in a Box”: Contrasting Virtual Reality “Imaginaries” in the Co…
    Technical Communication Quarterly
  3. Garrison (2018)
    Moving technical communication off the grid
    Technical Communication Quarterly
  4. Jones (2016)
    Found Things: Genre, Narrative, and Identification in a Networked Activist Orga…
    Technical Communication Quarterly
  5. St.Amant et al. (2016)
    Addressing the Incommensurable
    Journal of Technical Writing and Communication
Show all 10 →
  1. Rivers (2011)
    Future Convergences: Technical Communication Research as Cognitive Science
    Technical Communication Quarterly
  2. Tebeaux et al. (2010)
    Book Reviews: Professional Communication in Engineering, the Internet Imaginair…
    Journal of Technical Writing and Communication
  3. Mara et al. (2009)
    Posthuman Rhetorics and Technical Communication
    Technical Communication Quarterly
  4. Tebeaux et al. (2009)
    Book Reviews: Together with Technology: Writing Review, Enculturation and Techn…
    Journal of Technical Writing and Communication
  5. Knievel (2008)
    Police Reform, Task Force Rhetoric, and Traces of Dissent: Rethinking Consensus…
    Journal of Technical Writing and Communication

Cites in this index (11)

  1. Moore (2004)
    Questioning the Motives of Technical Communication and Rhetoric: Steven Katz's …
    Journal of Technical Writing and Communication
  2. Moore (2000)
    Pluralism, Instrumental Discourse, and the Limits of Social Construction
    Journal of Business and Technical Communication
  3. Grobman (1999)
    Beyond Internationalization
    Journal of Business and Technical Communication
  4. Johnson (1999)
    Johnson responds
    Technical Communication Quarterly
  5. Moore (1999)
    Myths about instrumental discourse: A response to Robert R. Johnson
    Technical Communication Quarterly
Show all 11 →
  1. MacNealy et al. (1999)
    Can This Marriage Be Saved: Is an English Department a Good Home for Technical …
    Journal of Technical Writing and Communication
  2. Kreth et al. (1996)
    Comments on “Instrumental Discourse is as Humanistic as Rhetoric”
    Journal of Business and Technical Communication
  3. MOORE (1996)
    A Response to Miller and Kreth
    Journal of Business and Technical Communication
  4. Savage (1996)
    Redefining the ResponsibiIities of Teachers and the Social Position of the Tech…
    Technical Communication Quarterly
  5. MOORE (1996)
    Instrumental Discourse is as Humanistic as Rhetoric
    Journal of Business and Technical Communication
  6. Dombrowski (1995)
    Post‐modernism as the resurgence of humanism in technical communication studies
    Technical Communication Quarterly
Also cites 6 works outside this index ↓
  1. 10.2190/HAT
     ↗
  2. 10.2307/378062
     ↗
  3. Longo, B. (2000)
    Spurious coin: A history of science, management, and technical writing
     ↗
  4. 10.2307/375964
     ↗
  5. 10.4324/9780203328064
     ↗
  6. 10.2307/376975
     ↗
CrossRef global citation count: 11 View in citation network →

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