“You Just Don’t See Enough Normal”

Journal of Business and Technical Communication Jul 2005

“You Just Don’t See Enough Normal”

Amy Koerber Texas Tech University

Abstract

Building on Herndl’s concept of critical practice, this article presents a case study of attempts to change the discourse practices surrounding breast-feeding in today’s medical environment. To complicate readers’ understanding of rhetorical agency, resistance, and discursive change, the author considers the rhetorical efforts of two high-profile physicians alongside those of the nonphysician breast-feeding advocates she interviewed. Ultimately, this dual perspective shows that discursive efforts to change medical practices can fail, even when supported by powerful figures within the medical establishment, if the new ideas communicated in such efforts conflict with long-established material conditions.

Journal: Journal of Business and Technical Communication
Published: 2005-07-01
DOI: 10.1177/1050651905275635
Open Access: Closed
Topics: qualitative research

Citation Context

Cited by in this index (5)

Reed (2018)

Building on Bibliography: Toward Useful Categorization of Research in Rhetorics…

Journal of Technical Writing and Communication
Lawrence (2015)

Book Review: Vaccinations and Public Concern in History: Legend, Rumor, and Ris…

Journal of Business and Technical Communication
Burleson (2014)

Communication Challenges in the Hospital Setting

Journal of Business and Technical Communication
Derkatch (2012)

Demarcating Medicine's Boundaries: Constituting and Categorizing in the Journal…

Technical Communication Quarterly
Brasseur (2012)

Sonographers' Complex Communication during the Obstetric Sonogram Exam: An Inte…

Journal of Technical Writing and Communication

Cites in this index (5)

Barton (2004)

Discourse Methods and Critical Practice in Professional Communication

Journal of Business and Technical Communication
Herndl (2004)

Introduction to the Special Issue

Journal of Business and Technical Communication
Barton (2001)

Design in Observational Research on the Discourse of Medicine: Toward Disciplin…

Journal of Business and Technical Communication
HERNDL et al. (2000)

Research as Social Practice

Written Communication
REEVES (1996)

Language, Rhetoric, and AIDS

Written Communication

Also cites 3 works outside this index ↓

10.1515/9781503621749

↗
10.37514/PER-B.2003.2317.2.02

↗
10.2307/358354

↗

CrossRef global citation count: 12 View in citation network →