2 + 2 = 5 If 2 Is Large Enough

Abstract

This article suggests a perspective on rhetoric of technology as discursive exploitation of the margins of indeterminacy affecting the development of technologies and technical artifacts. It examines such margins by examining the development of an aircraft auxiliary engine in a California aerospace company, focusing especially on how engines are tested. It examines technical documents associated with testing as arenas for rhetorical transactions involving various factors and interests vested in a technology and as residua of compliance and negotiation. It suggests that margins of indeterminacy in technology development provide critical rhetorical spaces for agency and decision making, spaces that engineers and technical communicators must be trained to appreciate and exploit appropriately.

Journal
Journal of Business and Technical Communication
Published
1998-07-01
DOI
10.1177/1050651998012003003
Open Access
Closed
Topics

Citation Context

Cited by in this index (5)

  1. Technical Communication Quarterly
  2. Technical Communication Quarterly
  3. Journal of Business and Technical Communication
  4. Technical Communication Quarterly
  5. Technical Communication Quarterly

Cites in this index (2)

  1. College Composition and Communication
  2. Technical Communication Quarterly
Also cites 3 works outside this index ↓
  1. 10.1080/00201749208602296
  2. Technological Choices: Transformation in Material Cultures since the Neolithic
  3. 10.1080/10510977809367983
CrossRef global citation count: 7 View in citation network →