The Concept of Discourse Community: Star, Problem Child,
Cash-cow or Dog?
The Concept of Discourse Community: Star, Problem Child,
Cash-cow or Dog?John M. [email protected]
The Colonic TitleTHEME
DEVELOPMENTTOPICCOMMENTTHEORYAPPLICATIONAIMMETHODGENERALSPECIFIC
SENSENONSENSEEARNESTNESSFRIVOLITYThe Boston Product Portfolio
MatrixFuture potentialCurrent situation CASH COWDOGPROBLEM
CHILDSTARHow can we keep the cash-cow going?
Would a marketing blitz turn our problem child into a star?
Is it time to retire dog?
(Products? publishers lists? departmental courses? A universitys
academic units? )
Your own products/productions?)DOG John Swales & Paul
Fanning (1980) English in the Medical Laboratory (London: Thomas
Nelson)This book describes a laboratory procedure [mouth pipetting]
which is now banned in the U.K. All copies of the book should be
withdrawn and destroyed. (Registrar, London hospital)
PROBLEM CHILDRENOther Floors, Other Voices Incidents in an
Educational life
Speech Community v. Discourse CommunitySC: A homogenous
sociolinguistic assemblage of people who share place, background,
language variety, cultural values, etc
(Marthas Vineyard, the outports of Newfoundland, Warm
Springs)
DC: A heterogenous sociorhetorical assemblage of people who
broadly share occupational or recreational goals and
interests.(Particle physicists, an animal clinic, a local tennis
club)Of course, you say, it is not as simple as thatThe effects of
national media, globalization, international trade
Place and occupation intersect:university towns (Cambridge,
Heidelberg)sporting towns (Saratoga, St. Andrews)government towns
(Washington, Ottawa)religious towns (Assisi, Mecca)fishing towns,
mining towns, gaming towns, etcFamily traditions, caste
restrictions, class preferencesSo, is discourse communityA term of
art? The center of a set of ideas? (Herzberg)A convenient covering
metaphor?A deluding utopian fiction? (Harris)A robust social
construct?
Can it be suitably defined?
Google Scholar The concept of discourse communityWikepedia.
Swales presents six defining characteristics:A discourse
community:1) has a broadly agreed set of common public goals2) has
mechanisms of intercommunication among its members3) uses its
participatory mechanisms to provide information and feedback4)
Utilizes and possesses one or more genres in the communicative
furtherance of its aims.5) in addition to owning genres, it has
acquired some specific lexis.6) has a threshold level of members
with a suitable degree of relevant content and discoursal
expertise. Extracts from published work (Wardle & Downs; Eric
Borg; Swales 1998; 1987 CCCC talk; Beaufort; Ann Johns,
etc)Established Websites (Researchomatic; NCTE Issue Brief on
Discourse Communities, etcBlog Posts (instructors; Students; about
half summarize and apply the six criteria)(very few demurrals; One
(Jordan Rosa: Questions I still have: Are these the only
characteristics of a discourse community, or are there more? How
many more?)
My third surprise(Vainglorious) gratification, but a sense of
dismay at the inertia.(Acceptance of something that was written in
the late 1980sbefore the undergrads were born, before
globalization, and before social media)
(Theoretically, worries about the concept) PROBLEM CHILD
(Practically, class participants use the six criteria to
investigate DCs that they are familiar with). CASH-COW
Heather Waynes slide showUsing the 6 criteria, are these
discourse communities?1) A soccer team2) A sorority/fraternity3)
UCF4) Publix employees5) The Hong Kong Study Circle6) Republican
voters7) College Democrats at UCF8) Composition scholars9)
Occupants of Nike dorms10) Our classProblems with the six: 1) A
static world, with fixed structure and hierarchy: little movement
in or outThe heavens themselves, the planets, and this
centreObserve degree, priority, and placeInsisture, course,
proportion, season, form, Office, and custom, in all line of order;
O, when degree is shakd,which is the ladder of all high designs,The
enterprise is sick. How could communities,Degrees in schools, and
brotherhoods in cities,Peaceful commerce from dividable shores,The
primogenity of age, crowns, sceptres, laurelsBut by degree stand in
authentic place?Take but degree away, untune that string,And hark
what discord follows.
No more Utopian fantasy; Untuning Ulysses string without total
discordHeronstein Smiths observation that too many scholars miss
and obscure each individuals membership in multiple communities,
communities that require many social roles, and subsequently a
collage of allegiances, beliefs and sets of motivesA Professor of
Linguistics and Director of the ELI
A Professor of Biology and Director of the HerbariumSee the same
man, in vigour, in the gout;Alone, in company; in place, or
out;Early at business, and at hazard late;Mad at a fox-chace, wise
at a debate;Drunk at a borough, civil at a ball,Friendly at
Hackney, faithless at Whitehall.
(Alexander Pope, Epistle I: To Cobham (1734)Problem 2: The
Burkean Parlor & Entrances and ExitsThe 6 criteria piece was
written late 1980s.In a changed world, more attention in entries,
re-entries, exits.Lave & Wengers community of practice deals
with this aspect
Qualification/admission/entry
Apprenticeship/probation/acculturation membership seniority
old-fartageThree types of DCLocal: Betsys Hair SalonThe local food
co-opThe local historical society
(EMU for an outsider; where is everything? The short building
names; which doors are locked and when? Do lectures start on the
hour or ten after?How do I make a photo-copy? Etc)2) Focal : The
American Studies AssociationNorth American Butterfly
AssociationEPPCN (The European Particle Physics Communication
Network)Whovians(Regional, national or international assemblages,
networks, organizations)Mertons invisible colleges 3) Flocal: The
American Studies Dept at Michigan A local branch of your bank Local
chapters of various national organizations
Mixed loyalties; both centripetal and centrifugal forces
(teaching/departmental service v. research/publication)
Discourse community reconsiderd1. A DC has a broadly agreed set
of goals
1a. A DC has a potentially discoverable set of goals. These may
be publicly and explicitly formulated (as in mission statements),
and/or may be generally or partially recognized by its members;
they may be consensual; or they may be separate but contiguous (Old
Guard and Young Turks; academic researchers and practitioners, as
in the just-holding-together American Psychological Association).(A
darker world, not excluding Al-Qaida, cabals, industry pressure
groups etc)2. A DC has mechanisms of intercommunication among its
members
2a. Little change, but for new digital channels, interactive
websites, blogs, Twitter, texting etc.
(So subscribers to the NYT or Direct TV are not members of a
discourse community.)3. Uses it participatory mechanisms to provide
information and feedback Always sadly incomplete.
3a. Uses its participatory mechanisms to manage the operations
of the DC and to promote (usually) change, growth and development
and to orchestrate (rarely) retrenchment and demise. As Jim Martin
said Genres are how things get done when words are used to
accomplish them.4. A DC utilizes and hence possesses one or more
genres in the communicative furtherance of its aims.
(Possesses?)
4a. A DC utilizes an evolving selection of genres in the
furtherance of its sets of goals and as a means of instantiating
its participatory mechanisms. These sets of genres are often
particularized. (The genres are performed, re-performed and
refined, but rarely owned (i.e. uniquely theirs.). (The Friday
afternoon get-together: Happy Hour; Birthday Celebrations; the 4
p.m. Departmental seminar; Help Please and Progress. )5. In
addition to owning genres, it has acquired some specific lexis.
5a. A DC has acquired and continues to refine DC-specific
terminology. Classically, these consist of abbreviations and
shorthands of all kinds, not excluding things like The tuna
sandwich in the corner wants a refill; the meatloaf is 86-ed.(In
the older ELI; A new student may be described as She looks like a
73 across the board. Code 236 on floor 6. 6. A DC has a threshold
of members with a suitable degree of relevant content and
discoursal expertise.
6a. A DC has an explicit or implicit hierarchy and/or structure
which, inter alia, manages the processes of entry into and
advancement within the discourse community.
7. A DC develops a sense of silential relations (Becker) whereby
there is a sense of things that do not need to be said or do not
need to be spelled out. (Members of a Bridge Club)
Discovery of a new (larger) mammal
Discovery of a new birdBunchosia itacarensis W R Anderson, sp.
nov. Type: Brazil. Bahia: Mun. Itacar, 3 km S of Itacar, forest at
edge of ocean, Dec fl, Mori et al. 13081 (Holotype: MICH! CEPEC,
NY, not seen).8. A DC develops horizons of expectation, defined
rhythms of activity, a sense of its history, and value systems for
what is good and less good work.
(Stocktaking on Tuesdays; Artsoppa on Thursdays)
In NUBS (!) The Computer Center: A shelf-life of months The ELI:
Several years The Herbarium: Several decadesA DC example: NABAA
complex website: Mission Statement, Shop, Interactive feature (hot
seens), political action (saving the Miami Blue)An annual
conventionA quarterly journalAn embryonic National Butterfly Center
in Mission, TexasLocal chapters (few but growing)NABA butterfly
countsNABA Butterfly Counts: Annual Report
335. Wake Co., NC. Yr 17, 35.8563, -78.6599, center at Shelley
Lake Park. See 1995 report for habitats. Habit changes since last
year. Arboretum annual beds were moved but remain available.31
August 2011; 0900-1700 hrs; sun AM & PM 76-100%; 65-88F; wind
0-5 mi/hr. 8 observers in 3 parties. Total party-hours 15; total
party-miles on foot 15. Observers: Pipeline Swallowtail 20, Black
Sw. 4, E. Tiger Sw. 29, Spicebush Sw.7, Cabbage White 3, Clouded
Sulphur 4, Orange Su.4, Sleepy Orange 61, Gray Hairstreak 5,
Red-banded Ha 6,Total 43 species, 759 individuals. Immatures:
Monarch 41 eggs on com. Milkweed; Pipevine Sw. 3 caterpillars on
Dutchmans Pipe. Field Notes: Hurricane Irene barely reached Wake
Co., but may have affected numbers of Cloudless Sulphur and other
southern immigrants.A different example: Whovians and a
WhovianCarson MaynardEarly Whovian historyNovember 2013, London: Dr
Who 50th Anniversary CelebrationTalks, Panels, merchandize,
autograph booths, hand-on demonstrations, kids showsHis collection,
his favorite episodesHis regret that theres no local
chapter/meet-up groupWhovians (2) Personal kudos: Waris Hussein;
Delia DerbyshireNorth American Doctor Who Appreciation
SocietyGallifrey ConventionsFanzinesWebsites, podcasts, discussions
boards, fan productions(June, 2009, 40,000 members of discussion
forum)Trock musicTardis, a room or building that is actually larger
than it appears
Final ConsiderationsTwo Quotations
The term discourse community is useful for describing a space
that was unacknowledged before because we did not have a term for
it. The term realigns the traditional unitieswriter, audience,
textinto a new configuration. What was largely scene before,
unnoticed background, becomes foreground. (James Porter, 1992)
Why has DC theory have such strange features: instant
adoptability, resilience in the face of critique, resistance to
calls for theoretical specification, the protean character of its
fundamental assumptions as it migrates across theoretical and
empirical traditions? (Paul Prior, 2003)But is it a robust social
construct? Probably not.
A historian might say it doesnt account for social, economic or
political forces that impact a DC.A sociologist might say it doesnt
acknowledge the effects of broader social structures.An
educationist might say it downplays acquisitional trajectories as
well as the roles of individual agencies.An anthropologist might
say it ignores important aspects of cultural historyIf it is not
robust, does it matter? Probably not.Like Porter, it can be argued
if your focus is on rhetorical principles of organization, on
discoursal expectations, and on telling linguistics tokens, it
provides insight into what at first sight might seem standard,
ordinary and predictable.
Even if, DC descriptions are blurred snapshots, always
imperfectly pinning down conventions and topoi that are in flux
(Laura Wilder, 2012) So, theoretically, DC may still be a PROBLEM
CHILD, although (hopefully) moving toward a more settled
adolescence.
But, heuristically and pedagogically, it has the potential to be
a STAR if:The available definitional criteria are critically
evaluated rather than being tamely accepted.Reflections on
student-experienced DCs (working in a car wash, skate-boarding
groups, animal hospital interns) can be used as a bridge to
academic DCs.The associated genres are viewed not just as products,
but also in terms of their production and receptionDiscourse
communities are aligned with disciplinary tribes and
territories.
Thank You
[email protected]
