Geopolitics of Grant Writing: Discursive and Stylistic Features of Nonprofit Grant Proposals in Nepal and the United States

Journal of Technical Writing and Communication Apr 2014

Geopolitics of Grant Writing: Discursive and Stylistic Features of Nonprofit Grant Proposals in Nepal and the United States

Santosh Khadka Syracuse University

Abstract

This study examines the global-local interplay of genre features in a select sample of nonprofit grant proposals from two particular sites—Nepal and the United States. Critically analyzing the carefully selected samples from both the sites on their own terms first and then in clusters (of Nepalese and American proposals) by exploiting the genre and discourse analysis theories and techniques published in genre, genre analysis, and grant proposal scholarship, this study attempts to examine the genre of nonprofit grant proposal in both comparative and non-comparative terms. While the study acknowledges that each instance of nonprofit grant proposal is unique, complex, and therefore non-generalizable, it does draw some broad generalizations about the similarities and differences in the rhetorical “moves,” organization, and/or composition strategies of grant writers from these two different geopolitical locations. The study finds that variations observed across samples and grant writers reflect the unique rhetorical situations of these writers, whereas uniformities have to do with the global circulation of Western genre forms in the rest of the world via global organizations like the United Nations and the International Monetary Fund—which are also the major donors in developing countries like Nepal. And finally, the study reaffirms the fact that constraints like funding agencies' guidelines and reviewers' preferences have a considerable influence on genre features and forms. That has been the case with both the Nepalese and American proposals sampled in this study.

Journal: Journal of Technical Writing and Communication
Published: 2014-04-01
DOI: 10.2190/tw.44.2.c
Open Access: Closed
Topics: discourse analysis multilingual writers

Citation Context

Cited by in this index (1)

Ghimire (2024)

Understanding Transnational Technical Communication in Technical and Profession…

Technical Communication Quarterly

Cites in this index (2)

DUNMIRE (2000)

Genre as Temporally Situated Social Action

Written Communication
MYERS (1985)

The Social Construction of Two Biologists' Proposals

Written Communication

Also cites 14 works outside this index ↓

10.1002/pf.2205

↗
10.1002/pf.2204

↗
10.37514/PER-B.2009.2324.2.01

↗
10.1016/j.pragma.2011.02.015

↗
10.1017/S0261444808005235

↗
10.1177/0957926506068432

↗
10.1177/0021943608319387

↗
10.1016/j.esp.2005.10.004

↗
10.1016/S0889-4906(97)00026-4

↗
10.37514/PER-B.2009.2324.2.04

↗
10.1109/TPC.2005.853937

↗
10.1177/0267323108101829

↗
10.1016/j.esp.2007.07.005

↗
10.3126/bodhi.v6i0.9240

↗

CrossRef global citation count: 0 View in citation network →