scholarly journals A Tardy Uptake

2020 ◽  
Vol 30 ◽  
pp. 105-132
Author(s):  
Anne Freadman
Keyword(s):  
Social Action ◽  
Genre Theory ◽  
Genre Studies ◽  
Subsequent Work ◽  
Social Motive ◽  
The Social ◽  
Rhetorical Action ◽  
Rhetorical Genre ◽  
The Subject ◽  
Definition Of

Following Carolyn Miller’s (1984) definition of genre as social action, subsequent work in the field of rhetorical genre theory has focused on two aspects of her account. The first is the claim that “a genre is a rhetorical means for mediating private intention and social exigence” (Miller, 1984, p. 163). The site of this mediation is now referred to as the subject—a term that is imported from psychoanalysis and critical social theory. I am concerned that the theoretical freight carried by this term—with its claim to address the “big questions” of subjectivity—diverts us from our focus on “how the genre works as rhetorical action” (Miller, 1984, p. 159). I shall replace the subject with the agent, moving then to argue that bringing uptake to bear on agency helps shift the debate to a more strictly rhetorical terrain. The second aspect that has been focused on is exigence: the “social motive” of rhetorical action, “an objectified social need” lying at “the core of situation” (Miller, 1984, pp. 158, 157). I consider an ambiguity at the heart of this concept of exigence between the work it does in accounting for punctual rhetorical action—the genre in actu—and its work in generalizing over some genre in virtu. Because of this, I move to replace exigence with alternative ways of conceiving the site of rhetorical action. Throughout, I accept broadly the framework of Rhetorical Genre Studies. While I seek to solve the problems through a rigorous reliance on rhetoric, I move beyond this frame when I discuss the restrictions on a theory of genre imposed by an exclusive assumption of verbal or discursive acts.

A Review of Genre Approaches within Linguistic Traditions

2018 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Wan Farah Wani Wan Fakhruddin ◽  
Hanita Hassan
Keyword(s):  
Social Action ◽  
English For Specific Purposes ◽  
Genre Studies ◽  
Linguistic Features ◽  
Ethnographic Approach ◽  
The Social ◽  
Rhetorical Genre ◽  
Rhetorical Features ◽  
And Function ◽  
Linguistic Approach

This paper reviews three major approaches to genre analysis; Rhetorical Genre Studies (RGS), English for Specific Purposes (ESP) and Systemic Functional Linguistics (SFL). Based on the review, it is noted that RGS is an approach which regards genre as a form of social action involving analysis of genre through detailed accounts of the social and cultural contexts with an emphasis on how a genre fulfills its social purpose and actions. On the other hand, ESP is an approach which views genre as a communicative event characterised by their communicative purposes as well as rhetorical features where the discourse community acts as those which recognises and sanctions the acceptance of a genre. The final genre approach, which is SFL, perceives genre as the cultural purpose of texts, achieved through a genre’s structural and realisational patterns where meanings are made within the genre. Overall, the ESP and SFL approaches share fundamental view that linguistic features of texts are connected to social context and function. Thus both of the approaches take on a linguistic approach in describing genres. RGS, in contrast, investigates genres through the study of society in which genre is being used thus taking an ethnographic approach to analysis of genres. This paper concludes with a discussion on the concept of genre presented in the various approaches and the possible emergence of other approaches in the study of genre.

scholarly journals Always Already in Flux: A Response to Anne Freadman

2020 ◽  
Vol 30 ◽  
pp. 152-160
Author(s):  
Charles Bazerman
Keyword(s):  
Social Action ◽  
North American ◽  
Degrees Of Freedom ◽  
Empirical Studies ◽  
Genre Theory ◽  
Genre Studies ◽  
Rhetorical Studies ◽  
Rhetorical Genre ◽  
Communicative Actions ◽  
Freedom Of Action

Carolyn Miller’s rich and theoretically complex 1984 essay “Genre as Social Action” has been widely influential among scholars who have been variously identified as part of Rhetorical Genre Studies (Freedman, 1999), North American Genre Studies (Freedman & Medway, 1994; Artemeva, 2004), or American New Rhetorical Studies (Hyon, 1996). Despite being associated with each other, these loose congeries of scholars do not form a coherent whole with a commonly shared theory; nor have they taken up Miller’s essay in exactly the same way, to use the uptake term introduced into genre discussions by Anne Freadman (1987/1994). These scholars have a variety of understandings of how contexts configure perceived communicative opportunities within situations, how communicative actions are perceived by others, how social circumstances are relevant and articulated by the participants, the degrees of freedom of action by the writer and the interpreting reader, how mandatory certain elements of genres are and how those elements are realized in texts, as well as many other issues, including the natures of agency and exigency that Freadman (2020) considers in her current essay. Moreover, the theories or concepts advanced by these scholars are developed through empirical studies, each of a different character, although Freadman would like to distinguish sharply between genre theory and genre studies.

SOCIOLOGICAL PROBLEMS OF RITUAL: SOME REFLECTIONS

2021 ◽  
Vol 74 (2) ◽  
pp. 67-71
Author(s):  
Zh.K. Madalieva ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Social Action ◽  
Real World ◽  
Symbolic Meaning ◽  
Traditional Society ◽  
Social Functions ◽  
Individual Life ◽  
Human Community ◽  
The Social ◽  
The World ◽  
Definition Of

The article discusses in detail the essence and meaning of ritual as a social action. The study of the nature of this phenomenon involves, first of all, the study of various approaches to the definition of the concept of "ritual" and related phenomena. Analyzing the existing definitions, the author comes to the conclusion that "ritual" is a certain set of actions that have symbolic meaning. The symbolism of the ritual is manifested in its connecting role with the world of the sacred, sacred. The article emphasizes that in the consciousness of a person in a traditional society, the sacred world is present in the real world through ritual. As an archaic form of culture, ritual was also a way of regulating and maintaining collective life. The ritual served as a means of integrating and maintaining the integrity of the human community, giving it stability. Therefore, the article focuses on the social functions of the ritual in both public and individual life.

scholarly journals Alternative approaches in the conceptualization of social capital

2007 ◽  
Vol 52 (174-175) ◽  
pp. 152-167
Author(s):  
Natasa Golubovic ◽  
Srdjan Golubovic
Keyword(s):  
Social Capital ◽  
Social Processes ◽  
Social Capital Theory ◽  
Consistent Theory ◽  
Capital Theory ◽  
Theoretical Position ◽  
The Social ◽  
Alternative Approaches ◽  
The Subject ◽  
Definition Of

Despite the great interest for the concept and a considerable number of papers that deal with the subject of social capital, yet there is no unique and consistent definition of social capital. Forming a consistent theory of social capital is hindered by the presence of several different approaches in the analysis of this phenomenon. Depending on the author?s theoretical position in the definition of social capital or the analysis of its sources, components and outcomes, the emphasis rests on different social processes and relationships. The aim of this paper is to analyze alternative approaches in the conceptualization of social capital, their advantages and shortfalls, and their implications for the development of the social capital theory.

Toward a Rhetoric of Serious Game Genres

2010 ◽  
pp. 50-73 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lee Sherlock
Keyword(s):  
Social Action ◽  
Serious Games ◽  
Meaning Making ◽  
Rhetorical Theory ◽  
Serious Game ◽  
Genre Studies ◽  
Rhetorical Genre ◽  
Gaming Activity ◽  
Game Developers ◽  
Research And Design

This chapter examines the construction of serious game genre frameworks from a rhetorical perspective. The author argues that to understand the forms of persuasion, learning, and social action that serious games facilitate, perspectives on genre must be developed and applied that situate serious gaming activity within larger systems of discourse, meaning-making, and text circulation. The current disconnect between popular understandings of serious game genres and those expressed by serious game developers represents one instance where rhetorical genre studies can be applied to generate knowledge about the “genre work” that serious games perform. Advocating a notion of genre that seeks to identify forms of social action and the persuasive possibility spaces of gaming, the author concludes by synthesizing digital game-based formulations of genre with perspectives from rhetorical theory to suggest implications for serious game research and design.

scholarly journals Illicit Genres: The Case of Threatening Communications

Sakprosa ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-53
Author(s):  
Marie Bojsen-Møller ◽  
Sune Auken ◽  
Amy J. Devitt ◽  
Tanya Karoli Christensen
Keyword(s):  
Genre Theory ◽  
Situational Factors ◽  
Genre Studies ◽  
Factors Affecting ◽  
Test Items ◽  
Societal Benefits ◽  
Novel Approach ◽  
Rhetorical Genre ◽  
Threatening Communications ◽  
Shed Light

This study takes a novel approach to the study of threatening communications by arguing that they can be characterized as a genre – a genre that generally carries strong connotations of intimidation, fear, aggression, power, and coercion. We combine the theoretical framework of Rhetorical Genre Studies (RGS) with results from theoretical and empirical analyses of threats to arrive at a more comprehensive perspective of threats. Since threats do not form part of any regular curriculum of genres, we designed a survey to test how recognizable they are. While scholars on threats describe threatening communications as remarkably varied in form and contextual features, the majority of our respondents categorized test items as threats without prompts of any kind, indicating that threats are a recognizable genre. We propose that threatening communications belong to a wider category of illicit genres: i.e. genres that generally disrupt and upset society and commonly affect their targets negatively. The uptakes of illicit genres are very different from those of other genres, as the users of the genres often actively avoid naming them, making uptake communities significant shapers of illicit genres. The present study contributes to research on threatening communications, since genre theory sheds light on important situational factors affecting the interpretation of a text as a threat – this is a particularly contentious question when it comes to threats that are indirectly phrased. The study also contributes to genre theory by pointing to new territory for genre scholars to examine, namely illicit genres. Studies of illicit genres also have wider, societal benefits as they shed light on different kinds of problematic rhetorical behavior that are generally considered destructive or even dangerous.

scholarly journals Disability as Socio-Rhetorical Action: Towards a Genre-Based Approach

2011 ◽  
Vol 31 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Rick Carpenter
Keyword(s):  
Social Action ◽  
Medical Model ◽  
Genre Theory ◽  
Traditional View ◽  
Human Actions ◽  
The Past ◽  
Social Nature ◽  
Rhetorical Action ◽  
Critical Attention ◽  
Medical Model Of Disability

<p>In many respects, the reconceptualization of genre over the past few decades mirrors that of disability.&nbsp; Just as disability scholars and activists reject rigid categories of fixed difference based solely on individual deviations from some supposedly neutral norm, so too have contemporary genre theorists rejected the traditional view of genre as static categories of discourse that share certain objective conventional features. Such a view is unsatisfactory because, in casting genres as decontextualized, ahistorical forms or receptacles, it fails to adequately reflect the inherently social nature of discourse and texts. Instead, genre theorists now (re)conceive genres as dynamic sites of social action. Disability is also a form of social action, a rhetorical convention used to construct and regulate human actions and interactions, and, as such, can be viewed and analysed in generic terms. Conceiving disability as genre (and metagenre) provides an additional theoretical lens for examining and transcending, among other things, the reductive and oppressive categorization deployed by the medical model of disability. A perspective informed by genre theory helps to shift critical attention from description to explanation, a necessary step in deconstructing hegemonic discourses.</p>

scholarly journals Approach towards classification of the types of legal responsibility

2021 ◽  
pp. 21-31
Author(s):  
Konstantin Evgenevich Shilekhin
Keyword(s):  
Social Relations ◽  
Scientific Literature ◽  
Legal Responsibility ◽  
Close Link ◽  
The Social ◽  
The Subject ◽  
Tax Fraud ◽  
Definition Of

The subject of this research is the social relations in the context of bringing to legal responsibility, as well as normative legal acts and scientific literature that reflect such relations. The problem of classification of the types of legal responsibility is relevant in the context of substantiation of the autonomy of its individual types. The attempts to substantiate the autonomy of one or another type of legal responsibility entail the revision of the grounds for classification. The goal of this article consists in revealing the natural grounds for definition of the concept of &ldquo;legal responsibility&rdquo; to build consistent and exhaustive classification. The main conclusion lies in determination of the criterion for classification of the types of legal responsibility. Emphasis is placed on the social relations underlying the legal relations, namely legal relations in the area of bringing to legal responsibility. On the example of responsibility for committing tax fraud, the article demonstrates the failure of attempts to find qualification criteria on the basis of the normative legal acts outside the entirety of social relations. The article determines the close link between social relations in the economic sphere, as well as their impact upon legal relations emerging in the context of bringing to legal responsibility as a whole and administrative responsibility in particular.

Positioning the Normative Practice Approach

2019 ◽  
pp. 31-54
Author(s):  
Jan Hoogland
Keyword(s):  
Social Sciences ◽  
Social Action ◽  
Social Practices ◽  
Stepping Stones ◽  
Normative Structure ◽  
The Social ◽  
Practice Approach ◽  
Normative Practice ◽  
Normative Practices ◽  
Definition Of

The concept of social practices has received growing attention in interpretative social sciences. This concept is based on a long tradition of hermeneutical, interpretative, action-theoretical, pragmatist, and phenomenological theories in the social sciences, starting with Weber's famous definition of social action. In this chapter, some crucial stepping stones of this tradition are highlighted. In the line of these theories, a new approach of normative practices will be introduced, partially based on core philosophical insights of the Dutch philosopher Herman Dooyeweerd. Central features of this approach are 1) the multi-layered, intrinsically normative structure of social practices (constitutive side) and 2) the importance of regulative convictions, ideals, and attitudes leading the disclosure and development of those practices (regulative side).

Generationsanklager – konflikt, følelser og ungdomsaktivisme

2021 ◽  
pp. 17-33
Author(s):  
Esben Bjerggaard Nielsen
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Specific Form ◽  
Rhetorical Theory ◽  
Social Motive ◽  
The Social ◽  
Rhetorical Genre ◽  
Main Motive ◽  
Public Rhetorics ◽  
Point Of Departure ◽  
Over Time

Compared to rhetorical defenses the rhetoric of accusations has not garnered much attention from rhetorical critics over time. Two common threads in existing approaches to accusatory rhetoric are a link to an underlying affirmative motive and a view of accusations as a rhetorical genre. However, these threads have not been fully developed so far. This article takes its point of departure in Carolyn Millers rhetorical theory of genre and Celeste Michelle Condit’s work with angry public rhetorics in order to reveal the social motive of the accusatory genre. The argument here is that the main motive can be found in a desire for corrective action, but is further supported by a definitory and moral motive. This is then used as a basis for treating generational accusations as a specific form of accusation as well as analyzing it in relation to Greta Thunberg’s rhetorical accusations of older generations in the climate change debate

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