Discourse Communities
Steven T. Varela
Department of English
University of Texas at El Paso
Talking Points
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Good Readers/Writers

Discourse Communities

Assignments for Week
What is a “good” reader and writer?

Good readers and writers are good thinkers—
willing to explore, challenge and grow.

They ask questions: (What? How? Why?)
even if it means to question authority.

They pay attention to details and use logic.
What is a “good” reader and writer?

They solve problems by breaking large
complexities into small steps towards solutions

They appreciate excellence in fields other than
their own.

Willing to learn from others and recognize
their biases.
What is a “good” reader and writer?

Observes patterns and notes similarities and
differences.

Looks for evidence that supports information
presented.

Use power to effect change and want to
change.
Why care about what you
read/learn?
“Where knowledge is produced about the
problems of the powerless, it is more often
than not produced by the powerful in the
interest of maintaining the status quo, rather
than the powerless in the interest of change.”--Gaventa
Discourse Communities
Definition of D.C.

Discourse communities are social entities with
distinctive writing practices as a result of the
communities’ shared values and goals, material
conditions for text production, and influence of
community members. They employ genres to
carry out the community’s purposes and have
norms for texts (i.e. “good writing”) and
specific roles for writers.
–Beaufort, 1997
How D.C have changed…

From oral, to typography, to iconography…

Forms of public discourse and the discourse
communities themselves regulate and even
dictate what kind of content can issue from
such forms…

What does this mean?
Discourse Community of Oral
Communication

Made us human, keeps us human and even defines
what human means (i.e. creating categories (ex.
“chair”) and perceptions (what you call something (or
someone) is how you treat it)

Culture is a creation of speech (EX. Proverbs as law;
Greeks and rhetoric)

Would this be suitable now? Is it still valued?
Discourse Community of
Typography

Writing freezes speech—created a perceptual
revolution—from ear to eye.

How much more is this discourse valued over oral
communication? (i.e. court decisions, degrees). Why?

As cultures change their forms of discourse and their
discourse communities, their ideas of “truth” change
too. “Saying is believing,” to “Reading is believing,”
to now—“Seeing is believing.”
Discourse Community of
Iconography

Media, television, internet, you-tube, etc.

How has this form of discourse become more
valued than typography? (Ex. education,
American Idol)

How has this form of discourse changed the
need for oral and written communication?
This Week’s Assignments