1st Edition

Beyond Postprocess and Postmodernism Essays on the Spaciousness of Rhetoric

    In this collection of original essays, editors Theresa Enos and Keith D. Miller join their contributors--a veritable "who's who" in composition scholarship--in seeking to illuminate and complicate many of the tensions present in the field of rhetoric and composition. The contributions included here emphasize key issues in past and present work, setting the stage for future thought and study. The book also honors the late Jim Corder, a major figure in the development of the rhetoric and composition discipline. In the spirit of Corder's unfinished work, the contributors to this volume absorb, probe, stretch, redefine, and interrogate classical, modern, and postmodern rhetorics--and challenge their limitations.

    Beyond Postprocess and Postmodernism: Essays on the Spaciousness of Rhetoric will be of interest to scholars, teachers, and students in rhetoric and composition, English, and communication studies. Offering a provocative discussion of postprocess composition theories and pedagogies and postmodern rhetorics, as well as the first thorough consideration of Jim Corder's contributions, this work is certain to influence the course of future study and research.

    Contents: Introduction. Part I: Historical Context--Rhetoric and Composition Studies. J. Lauer, The Spaciousness of Rhetoric. Part II: Theory-Building and Critiquing Corderian Rhetoric. J.S. Baumlin, Toward a Corderian Theory of Rhetoric. K.D. Miller, Jim Corder's Radical, Feminist Rhetoric. W.R. Winterowd, The Uses of Rhetoric. W. Bishop, Preaching What He Practices: Jim Corder's Irascible and Articulate Oeuvre. P.C. Hoy, IIA Writer's Haunting Presence. G.E. Yoos, Finding Jim's Voice: A Problem in Ethos and Personal Identity. Part III: Parallels, Extensions, and Applications. T. Enos, A Call for Comity. R.E. Young, Toward an Adequate Pedagogy for Rhetorical Argumentation: A Case Study in Invention. R. Lloyd-Jones, Rhetoric and Conflict Resolution. E. Ervin, Rhetoricians at War and Peace. Part IV: Theoretical, Pedagogical, and Institutional Issues. T. Warnock, Bringing Over Yonder Over Here: A Personal Look at Expressivist Rhetoric as Ideological Action. P. Elbow, A More Spacious Model of Writing and Literacy. J. Warnock, Weaving a Way Home: Composing a Personal Geography. D. Hesse, Who Owns Creative Nonfiction?

    Biography

    Theresa Jarnagi Enos, Keith D. Miller, Jill McCracken

    "If you are going to read only one serious book about writing theory this year, make it this one....this book will make your think about the nature of technical writing, of authenticity and persona, of engaging readers. It will make you think about how you write, what you write, and why you write. It will give you fodder for those discussions that begin, 'The reason kids can't write today is that the schools don't teach enough grammar."
    Technical COMMUNICATION

    "For those who thought they understood Corder from reading one or two of his articles or books, Beyond confirms what you thought you knew and then introduces you to interpretations of his writing through the lenses of historical and contemporary issues that are at once philosophical and theoretical...."
    Rhetoric Review

    "At its best, this collection argues, the garden of rhetoric is a capacious one, welcoming a wild variety of plants to take root in its rich soil. In celebrating the life, work, and spirit of Jim Corder, these essays also celebrate Corder's view of rhetoric-as spacious, open, gently cooperative, inviting all kinds of experimentation in form and in subjectivities. In making a space for the inventiveness of human agency, Beyond Postprocess and Postmodernism: Essays on the Spaciousness of Rhetoric attempts to move the field of composition and rhetoric beyond both post-process and postmodernism and, along the way, to reclaim an important part of the rhetorical tradition."
    Andrea A. Lunsford
    Stanford University