The discourse community, in its most basic definition, is a
collection of people brought together by a common practice, setting or
interest. The community can be scattered across a nation or contained to a
single classroom. There can be fervent disagreement between members, total
understanding or variations of each that generate sub-communities that live
inside the discourse itself. This formation, unity, coming-togetherness is what
substantiates the community, what gives it meaning. Without an audience, regardless
of its size, discourses will fail to maintain relevance. Practicing members are
imperative, essential, obligatory.
Once you’ve
penetrated a discourse community–or at least absorbed its rhythms, stances,
vocabulary–you’re able to move and interact within it without hesitation.
Eventually, through repetition and immersion, you’ll begin to speak and act in
a way you’d think of as artificial, or at least odd, prior to immersion. Maybe
that immersion never happened, or you didn’t consciously recognize it due to
its drawn out gradualness.
I digress.
As important as the birthing of a discourse community, it is not the focus of
this article. I intend to focus my research on the discourse community itself,
the affects it has on its members and participants, and how it shapes, alters
and fosters language. I also plan to observe the affect a discourse community
can have on the facets of life that are largely disconnected or unrelated to
the community. To aid me with my research, amongst others, are scholars of the
highest academic caliber: John Swales, James Paul Gee, Elizabeth Wardle, Amy
Devitt, Anis Barwashi, and Mary Jo Reiff. Though their theories on the
discourse community conflict and contrast with each other, they all remain
steadfast in their belief of the discourse community’s inescapable affect.
Swales argues that there are six defining characteristics to every discourse
community, each of them crucial and indispensable. Theoretically, Swales
suggests, you can adapt and integrate into a discourse community; the community
can be learned. On the opposite side of the spectrum, James Paul Gee argues
that you are more or less, involuntarily, a part of a discourse community.
There is no integration, no willful intrusion. You’re either in or out.
To better
gauge the community, Devitt et al., stress the importance of genre analysis
when studying a discourse community. Genre analysis, as defined by Devitt et
al., (to paraphrase) is a deep understanding of the genre or subject the
discourse community bases its self from. Once you feel you’ve got a firm and
definitive grasp on the genre, Devitt et al., suggests, you’ll be able to
penetrate and research your community.
With these
scholars, along with the community itself and the members I’ll observe, my
research will be enhanced tenfold.
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