THE RHETORIC
OF THE INTERFACE
Discourse Expectations in
Microsoft Word
Julia Romberger
Overview
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Theoretical Basis
Useful Concepts for Analysis
Types of Iconic Representations
Examples of Discourse Communities in
MS Word
• Implications
Andrew Feenberg
Technology is the medium of everyday life in
modern societies. Every major technological
change reverberates at many levels, economic,
political, religious, cultural. Insofar as we
continue to see the technical and the social as
separate domains, important aspects of these
dimensions of our existence will remain beyond
our reach as a democratic society. The fate of
democracy is therefore bound up with our
understanding of technology
(Questioning Technologies, Preface p. vii)
Theoretical Basis for
Interrogation of the GUI
Modernism & the GUI
• “remains true to modernist values of clarity
and functionality” - the space of the screen is
“ruled by straight lines and rectangular
windows” (Manovich, 2001, p. 63).
• “reflects larger social logic, ideology, and
imaginary of the contemporary society” (Manovich,
2001, p. 118).
• master narratives of capitalism and a
Tayloristic sense of efficiency is evidenced
through features like automation and prearranged templates and wizards, (Lyotard, 1997)
Gender & the GUI
• early writing software was intended to
make “inefficient secretarial (women’s)
work” subscribe to an ideal that
“appealed to a masculine ideal of
machine-like efficiency and limitless
energy” that were to be ascribed to the
secretary (Pringle, 1989, p 182).
• See Grammar and Spell-checkers
Concepts for Analysis
Multiliteracies
“To find our way around this world [of
interactive media, desktop publishing,
and computer interfaces] requires a
new multimodal literacy.”
Multiliteracies: Literacy Learning and the Design of Social
Futures. Ed. Bill Cope and Mary Kalantzis (2000)
Discourse Communities
• ”socio-rhetorical network” that “form[s] in order to
work towards sets of common goals” (Swales, 1990;
Porter, 1992).
• presuppose a knowledge base, of both a specific lexis
which might be used in specialized and technical
ways and of ‘pre-texts’ and genres appropriate to
communication within the community (Porter, 1992;
Swales, 1990).
Rhetoric and the Interface
Discourse Community and Subjectivity
[P]roduction and consumption of discourse are seen
as interpenetrating processes that instead of being
directed by the intentions of purpose of the
discourse user actually contribute to the user’s own
self-understanding and self-definition. (Porter, 1992,
p. 195)
Types of Iconic Representations
Iconic Icons
• Denotes its object by virtue of… likeness to or
resemblance of that object, on the basis of
some quality or characteristic inherent in the
icon (Mullet & Sano, 1995, p. 172–173).
• These show causality. If the user clicks on
this button or selects that menu item, what is
shown on the button or represented by the
iconographic menu item occurs.
Indexical Icons
• “[R]efers to its object indirectly, by
means of an association … by virtue of
its being actually affected or modified
by the sign object” (Mullet & Sano, 1995,
p. 173).
Symbolic Icons
• “[D]enotes its object by convention alone, and
… depends upon agreement between the
parties in communication” (Mullet & Sano,
1995, p. 173).
• The symbolic icon relies heavily on
foreknowledge on the part of the user who is
assumed to have had contact with and
extensive use of computers before the
encounter.
Examples of Discourse
Communities in MS Word
Microsoft Word’s Lexicon
• Drop Cap
From Graphic Design
Refers to the position of the initial capital letter in a
paragraph or on a page. This generally done for
aesthetic reasons.
• Comment vs. Annotate
Comment has undergone a historical shift from
annotate.
Transition to more common term might be due to
Annotate’s linkage with academia.
Microsoft Word’s Icons
• Clipboard = Paste
• Sticky Note =
Comment
• Paintbrush =
Formatting Tool
Microsoft Word’s Interactivity
• Typewriter Interactivity
Microsoft Word’s Interactivity
Cont.
• Automatic Linking
Microsoft Word’s Interactivity
Cont.
• Changing Automatic Formatting
4 step process
Implications
Advocate for Industry Change
• Documentation for software includes
definitions and discussions on what
metaphors are used.
• Usability testing asks the participants to
read interfaces in addition to
performing tasks.
Rhetorical Interrogation
• The myriad discourse communities in
electronic media used to compose may
create large roadblocks to learning critical
technology literacy and critical composition of
the electronic media.
• The increasing complexity of the interface
also impacts attempts to bridge the digital
divide.
Rhetorical Interrogation cont.
• Continuing rhetorical interrogation into
assumptions in technology about what
constitutes literacy can both empower and
raise critical awareness in users in productive
ways as they work on their own
communications.