Genre As Social Ac.on: The Rhetorical Genre Studies ...

GenreAsSocialAc.on:TheRhetoricalGenreStudies

ApproachtoGenre

MichaelBowenUniversitätRostock

RhetoricalGenreStudies

Genrehasbecomeadominantresearchobjectinanumberofscholarlycommuni>es:•  literarystudies(Frye,Todorov)•  systemicfunc>onallinguis>cs(Halliday)•  Historicalandcorpuslinguis>cs(Biber)•  EnglishforSpecificPurposes(Swales,Bha>a)•  RhetoricalGenreStudies(Miller,Bazerman)

TheRGSApproachtoGenre

Defininggenre(I)

ThevastmajorityofRGSscholarsdrawheavilyonCarolynMiller’sdefini>onofgenre:‘Genreistypifiedrhetoricalac>onsbasedonrecurrentsitua>ons.’(1984159)•  Whatare(rhetorical)situa>ons?•  Whatisrecurrence?•  Whatistypifica>on?•  Whatissocialac>on?•  Howaregenrerelatedtothecontextofculture?•  Whathappenedtoform?


Defininggenre(II)

RGStakesanapproachtogenrethatreliesoninves>ga>nghowlanguageusersperceiveandemploygenres.

Howwouldyourespondtothefollowingsitua>ons?

Ø Theprofessoroftheclassyouaretakinginformsyouthatmustwritea3000-wordtermpapertoreceiveamarkinthecourse.

Ø Youneedtomakemoneytogotouniversity,andyouseeanappropriatejobno>ceontheInternet.

Ø Youlearnthatthefatherofafriendhaspassedaway.


Whatisrhetoricalsitua>on?(I)Theterm‘rhetoricalsitua>on’wasintroducedbyLloydBitzer

inaninfluen>alpaperdeliveredin1966:Rhetoricalsitua.onmaybedefinedasacomplexofpersons,events,objects,andrela.onspresen.nganactualorpoten.alexigencewhichcanbecompletelyorpar.allyremovedifdiscourse,introducedintothesitua.on,cansoconstrainhumandecisionorac.onastobringaboutthesignificantmodifica.onoftheexigence.Priortothecrea.onandpresenta.onofdiscourse,therearethreecons.tuentsofanyrhetoricalsitua.on:thefirstistheexigence;thesecondandthirdareelementsofthecomplex,namelytheaudiencetobeconstrainedindecisionandac.on,andtheconstraintswhichinfluencetherhetorandcanbebroughttobearupontheaudience.(6)


Whatisrhetoricalsitua>on?(II)Exigence:‘athingotherthanitshouldbe’(Bitzer6);anunsa>sfactorystateofaffairscharacterizedbyurgencythatcanbemodifiedthroughdiscourse.

Audience:Thosewhosedecisionsandac>onscaneffectchangeandwhoseac>onsanddecisionscanbeeffectedbydiscourse.Theyare‘mediatorsofchange’(Bitzer8).

Constraints:Allthatwhich‘hasthepowertoconstraindecisionandac>onneededtomodifytheexigence’(Bitzer8).E.g.interests,beliefs,adtudes,sensibili>es,tradi>ons,materialcondi>ons,etc.

Ø Canyoudeterminetherhetoricalsitua.onofoneofyourcases?


Whatisrhetoricalsitua>on?(II)

Bitzer’sconcep>onofrhetoricalsitua>onrigheullyemphasizes:

•  Thedependentrela>onbetweensitua>onandresponse•  Thewriter’s(reader’s)ac>ve,engagedstancetoward

situa>onBitzer’sconcep>onhasbeencri>cizedinRGSas:

•  toolimitedtocovermanytypesofdiscourseofinteresttogenretheory

•  toodeterminis>c


Whatisrecurrence?(I)Bitzerremarksinpassingthatrecurrentsitua>onscallforthsimilarrhetoricalresponsesandtheircorrespondingforms:Duetoeitherthenatureofthingsorconven.on,orboth,somesitua.onsrecur.Thecourtroomisthelocusforseveralkindsofsitua.onsgenera.ngthespeechofaccusa.on,thespeechofdefense,thechargetothejury.Fromdaytoday,yeartoyear,comparablesitua.onsoccur,promp.ngcomparableresponses;hencerhetoricalformsarebornandaspecialvocabulary,grammar,andstyleareestablished.Thisistruealsoofthesitua.onwhichInvitestheinauguraladdressofaPresident.Thesitua.onrecursand,becauseweexperiencesitua.onsandtherhetoricalresponsestothem,aformofdiscourseisnotonlyestablishedbutcomestohaveapowerofitsownthetradi.onitselftendstofunc.onasaconstraintuponanynewresponseintheform.(13)


Whatisrecurrence?(II)•  Recurringsitua>onsengenderrecurrentresponses.

•  Recurrentresponsesinturnengenderaconstraintonpossibleresponsesbecause,basedonpreviousresponsestosimilarsitua>onstheaudiencedevelopsexpecta>onsastotypicalandappropriaterhetoricalresponses.

•  Similarresponsesinthepast(genre)thusconstrainandformcurrentresponses.Currentresponsesareproducedandreceivedinlightofpreviousones(intertextuality,‘contextofgenre’)

Ø  Howdoesoneofyourcasesreflectarecurrentsitua>onandacurrentresponse?

Ø  Howisitconstrainedbyreaderexpecta>onsofrecurrentresponses?

Ø  Howmuchfreedomdoyouhavetochallengereaderexpecta>ons?


Whatisrecurrence?(III)Sincecurrentresponsesareformedinlightofpastones,theymaycallforfeatureswhichmaynotbethemostefficaciousgivenpresentexigencesandwhoseoriginsarenodoubtmostlyunknowntowritersandreaders.

Inrhetoricaltransac.ons…thepastmayabideasalivingpresence.Indeed,evenwhereimmediatecircumstancemayclearlytosolicitacertainformofrhetoricalresponse,itissome.mesadifferent,evenincompa.bleformthatcomes,throughstubbornhabitua.on,torhetoricalexpression.(Jamieson406)

Ø Aretheirfeaturesofyourresponsethatreflectantecedentresponses,andthusdonotnecessaryrespondtothecontemporarysitua.on?


Whatistypifica>on?(I)

CarolynMillerrejectsBitzer’smaterialistviewofrecurrence(similari>es,analogies)andconcludesthatitcanonlybeunderstoodintermsoftypifica>on(157):•  ThesociologistRobertA.Strebinclaims:‘objec>vesitua>ons

areunique’andthuscannotrecur.Norcanindividualpercep>ons.

•  Ourrecogni>onofrecurrenceisbasedonourconstrualofrelevantsimilari>esorganizedonthebasisofintersubjec>velyavailabletypes.Wethusdonot‘perceive’recurrentsitua>ons,we‘define’them(156)

•  Weliveinaworldofmeaningfulsitua>ons.(Localsitua>onxcanonlyberecognizedasapar>cularsitua>onbecauseitisseeasanexampleofgeneraltypeaortypeb…)


Whatistypifica>on?(II)Miller’sconcep>onoftypifiedsitua>onmaintainsbutmodifiestheBitzer’sno>onofexigence(unsa>sfactorystate-of-affairs),removingitsmaterialistanddeterministconnota>onsandrecas>ngitas‘socialmo>ve’.

Exigenceisaformofsocialknowledge-amutualconstruingofobjects,events,interests,andpurposesthatnotonlylinksthembutalsomakesthemwhattheyare:anobjec.fiedsocialneed.ThisisquitedifferentfromBitzer'scharacteriza.onofexigenceasa"defect"ordanger.Conversely,althoughexigenceprovidestherhetorwithasenseofrhetoricalpurpose,itisclearlynotthesameastherhetor'sinten.on,forthatcanbeill-formed,dissembling,oratoddswithwhatthesitua.onconven.onallysupports.Theexigenceprovidestherhetorwithasociallyrecognizablewaytomakehisorherinten.onsknown.Itprovidesanoccasion,andthusaform,formakingpublicourprivateversionsofthings.Ø  Howdoesyourresponsereflectasocial(intersubjec>ve)mo>ve?


Whatistypifica>on?(III)

Ifsitua>onisseenintermsoftypifica>on,thenrela>onbetweensitua>onandresponse(genre)mustbeseenasdynamic,notunidirec>onal.Ifgenrerespondstorecurringsitua.on,thenapar.culartext’sreflec.onofgenrereflectsthatgenre’ssitua.on.Thustheactofconstruc.ngthegenre–ofclassifyingassimilartoothertexts–isalsotheactofconstruc.ngthesitua.on.(Devil20)Ifsitua>onisasocialconstructthenitcannotbeseenasseparatefromgenreinsofarasagenreembodiesandencodesitssitua>onbecausethemeaningofanindividualtextcanonlybeunderstoodintermsofthetext’senactmentofatypifiedresponsetoatypifiedsitua>on.Ø  Howdoesyourresponsetextuallyconstructthesitua>on?How

doesittextuallyenactitsreader?Itswriter?Itspurpose?


Whatisrhetoricalac>on?(I)

Ac>oncanonlybeunderstood‘againstacontextofsitua>onandthroughthealribu>onofmo>ves’(Miller159)•  Actsarecalledforthbyasitua>onandmodifyasitua>on.•  Toknowwhatactisbeingperformedweneedtoreferto

thesitua>on(context)inwhichitisembedded.•  Actscannotbedescribedasphysicaleventsbecausethe

‘samemovement’wouldbeadifferentactinadifferentsitua>on.

•  Forexample,swingingabaseballbatisadifferentact(andhasadifferentmeaning)duringaprac>cethaninagame.


Whatisrhetoricalac>on?(II)Ac>on(pragma>cs)fusesandencompassessubstance(seman>cs)andform(syntax).

•  Anacttobeseenasanac>onmustbemeaningful(seman>cs).Anactmustalwaysbeseenasakindofac>onandthusbeopentodescrip>on(bythedoerandtheobserver).

•  Anactmusthaveaform(andthusbeembodied)tobemeaningful.Ac>onrequiresformtobeac>on.

•  Onlyinac>ondosubstanceandformbecomedisclosedassuch.Ac>onisaprivilegedcategory.

•  Genresassocialac>onsarethesitua>on-basedfusionofsubstanceandform(Miller153).

Ø  Imaginethetextualformyourresponsewouldtake?Ø  Howtheformofyourresponsereflectitsfunc>onasaresponseto

itssitua>on?TheRGSApproachtoGenre

Whatisrhetoricalac>on?(III)

Ac>onandmo>veshouldnotbeseentohaveauncondi>onedlocusinanyofitselements(=Aristotle’senergeia)KennethBurke’spentadofac>on:

•  act•  scene(situa>on)•  agent•  agency(includesform–howac>onwasdone)•  purpose(aim)


Howisgenrerelatedtocontextofculture?

•  Typifiedsitua>onsandresponsestothemarelocatedwithinlooselydefinedsystemsorganizingmaterialcondi>ons,beliefs,behaviors,conven>ons,andvalues.

•  Texts,throughpar>cipa>ngingenre,enactandpromoteculturalsystems.

•  Genreisanexusofindividualacts(texts)andculture

Ø Whichkindofsubject(agent)doesyourtextpresuppose?

Ø Howisthissubjectposi>onreflectedandmaintainedwithinculture?


Whathappenedtoform?EventhoughRGSinsiststhatrhetoricalac>on‘fuses’substance(content)andform(linguis>cfeatures,palernsandstructures),ithastypicallyprivilegedac>onandthusthestudyofins>tu>onal,socialandculturalcontext.However,formremainsanissue(Devil28):

•  Formisonlymeaningfulinrela>ontoanac>onwithinagivencontext(situa>on).

•  Genreformsareopenandeverchanging(‘stabilizedfornow’)•  Formsvarywithineachinstanceofagenre,buteachinstanceis

viewedinlightofcommonforms.•  Apar>cularformofgenreismeaningfulinonlyrela>ontoother

genreforms.

Ø Whatkindofgenresaresimilartotheoneinwhichyourtextpar>cipates?


Whatdoesthismeanforwri>nginstruc>on?

•  Teachforminrela>ontocontext.Showhowformfunc>onsasaresponsetositua>on.

•  Encouragerhetoricalsensi>vitytolocalsitua>ons.Showhoweachsitua>ondemandsamoreorlesscrea>ve,innova>veresponse.

•  Encouragegenreawareness.Helpstudentsbeawareofthefactthatrecurrentsitua>onsandresponsereflectandpromoteapar>cularculture(ideology).

•  Encouragestudentstoseehowtheycaninfluenceculture(ideology)byrecas>ngrecurrentsitua>onsandresponses.Havethem‘reform’andcreategenres.


WorkCitedCampbell,KarlynKohrs,andKathleenHallJamieson,eds.FormandGenre:ShapingRhetoricalAc>on.FallsChurch:SpeechCommunica>onAssocia>on,1978.Devil,AmyJ.Wri.ngGenres.Carbondale:SouthernIllinoisUniversityPress,2004.Jamieson,Kathleen"AntecedentGenreasRhetoricalConstraint."QuarterlyJournalofSpeech61(Dec.1975):406-15.Miller,CarolynR."GenreAsSocialAc>on."QuarterlyJournalofSpeech70(May1984):151-67.Bitzer, Lloyd E. "The Rhetorical Situation." Philosophy and Rhetoric 1 (Winter 1968): 1-14.

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