Abstracts
Abstract
This article analyzes a rhetorical genre ecology emerging in the aftermath of a natural disaster in Ghana. Drawing on news articles and opinion pieces, a presidential speech, a government post-disaster assessment summary, and a World Bank Group action report, I argue that in their operation within the contingent environment of public spheres, genre uptakes may be highly unpredictable, but also serve multiple, varied functions that together respond to the multiplicity of exigences presented by the diffused contexts of publics. The analysis explains how diffused contexts of genre interaction shape social action, and how these interactions, in turn, enact publics.
Keywords:
- genre,
- Rhetorical Genre Studies,
- rhetoric,
- publics,
- public rhetoric,
- protest rhetoric,
- social justice
Appendices
Bibliography
- Addis Ababa. (2015). Enhancing urban resilience: City strength resilient cities program (English). Washington, D.C.: World Bank Group. https://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/559781468196153638/Addis-Ababa-Enhancing-Urban-Resilience-city-strength-resilient-cities-program
- Artemeva, N. (2009). Stories of becoming: A study of novice engineers learning genres of their profession. In C. Bazerman, A. Bonini, & D. Figueiredo (Eds.), Genre in a changing world (pp. 158-178). West Lafayette, IN: Parlor Press.
- Asante, N.A.A. (2015, July 3). Changing Accra: One month after June 3 disaster. CitiFMOnline. https://citifmonline.com/2015/07/changing-accra-one-month-after-june-3-disaster/?fbclid=IwAR17Gou-zoXFxZ1TXrsVcXhwiLXnXY2xS_4gb9vq6yEnbE6flEMYotZpy68#sthash.QaaiCcwX.dpbs
- Auken, S., & Sunesen, C. (2021). Genre in the climate debate (S. Auken, & C. Sunesen, Eds.), de Gruyter.
- Baiocchi, F. (2015, June 3). Chaos reigns as Accra is submerged by heavy rains. GraphicOnline. https://www.graphic.com.gh/news/general-news/chaos-reigns-as-accra-is-submerged-by-heavy-rains.html
- Bawarshi, A. (2015). Accounting for genre performances: Why uptake matters. In
- Bawarshi, A.S., & Reiff, M.J. (2010). Genre: An introduction to history, theory, research, and pedagogy. West Lafayette, IN: Parlor Press.
- Bazerman, C. (1994). Systems of genres and the enactment of social intentions. In A. Freedman & P. Medway (Eds.), Genre and the new rhetoric (pp. 67–86). London, UK: Taylor & Francis.
- Berkenkotter, C. (2001). Genre systems at work: DSM-IV and rhetorical recontextualization in psychotherapy paperwork. Written Communication, 18(3), 326-349.
- Boadu, K.A., Smith-Asante, E., & Syme, S. (2015, June 10). June 3 disaster: Ghana mourns. GraphicOnline. https://www.graphic.com.gh/news/general-news/june-3-disaster-ghana-mourns.html
- Bonaa, O. (2015, June 15). Flooding in Accra, Ghana: How can we help the victims. ModernGhana. https://www.modernghana.com/news/623610/flooding-in-accra-ghana-how-can-we-help-the-vict.html
- Bowers, T. (2010). From image to economic value: A genre analysis of sustainability reporting. Corporate Communications: An International Journal.15(3), 249-262.
- C. Bazerman & James Paradis (Eds.), Textual dynamics of the professions: Historical and contemporary studies of writing in professional communities (pp. 335-357). Madison: University of Wisconsin Press.
- Daily Graphic. (2015, June 5). News: Apocalypse in Accra! (pp. 3, 16, 23–24). GraphicOnline. https://www.graphic.com.gh/news/general-news/apocalypse-in-accra-150-dead-so-far-in-floods-inferno.html
- Devitt, A. J. (1991). Intertextuality in tax accounting: Generic, referential, and functional. In
- Devitt, A. J., Reiff, M. J., & Bawarshi, A. S. (2004). Scenes of writing: Strategies for composing with genres. New York, NY: Pearson/Longman.
- Dingo, R. (2012). Networking arguments: Rhetoric, transnational feminism, and public policy writing. Pittsburg, PA: University of Pittsburgh Press.
- Elliot, R. (2017, Aug. 31). In Hurricane Harvey’s wake, we need a green ‘new deal.’ The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2017/08/31/opinion/in-hurricane-harveys-wake-we-need-a-green-new-deal.html
- Freadman, A. (2002). Uptake. In R. Coe, L. Lingard, & T. Teslenko (Eds.), The Rhetoric and ideology of genre: Strategies for stability and change (pp. 39–53). Cresskill, NJ: Hampton.
- Freadman, A. (2012). The traps and trappings of genre theory. Applied Linguistics, 33(5), 544-563.
- Freedman, A., & Smart, G. (1997). Navigating the current of economic policy: Written genres and the distribution of cognitive work at a financial institution. Mind, Culture, and Activity, 4(4), 238-255.
- Giltrow, J., & Stein, D. (2009). Genres in the Internet: Issues in the theory of genre (J. Giltrow, & D. Stein, Eds.), John Benjamins Publishing Company.
- Huckin, T. (2002). Textual silence and the discourse of homelessness. Discourse & Society, 13(3), 347-372.
- Hurricane Katrina Aftermath Presidential Address. (2015, September 15). https://www.c-span.org/video/?188878-1/president-bush-addresses-hurricane-katrina-aftermath
- Littlefield, R. S., & Quenette, A. M. (2007). Crisis leadership and Hurricane Katrina: The portrayal of authority by the media in natural disasters. Journal of Applied Communication Research, 35(1), 26-47.
- Liu, B. F. (2007). President Bush's major post-Katrina speeches: Enhancing image repair discourse theory applied to the public sector. Public Relations Review, 33(1), 40-48.
- Mahamadu Huzeima (2015, June 16). Awakening call to all Ghanaians—June 3 disaster (Who is to blame?), ModernGhana.https://www.modernghana.com/news/630110/awakening-call-to-all-ghanaians-june-3rd-disaster.html
- McClure, K. (2011). The rhetoric of disaster: The presidential natural disaster address as an emergent genre. Relevant Rhetoric, 2, 1-16.
- McKinley, J., Rubinstein, D., & Mays, J.C. (2021, September 3). The storm warnings were dire. Why couldn’t New York be protected? The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2021/09/03/nyregion/nyc-ida.html
- Miller, C. R. (1984). Genre as social action. Quarterly Journal of Speech, 70, 151–167.
- Ministry of Environment, Science, Technology and Innovation. (2015). June 3, 2015, Floods in Accra, Assessment Summary.
- Moeller, R. M., & Christensen, D. M. (2009). System mapping: A genre field analysis of the National Science Foundation's grant proposal and funding process. Technical Communication Quarterly, 19(1), 69-89.
- N. Artemeva & A. Freedman (Eds.), Genre studies around the globe: Beyond the three traditions (pp. 186-206). Bloomington, IN: Trafford Publishing.
- Neüff, M. (2018). Words of crisis as words of power: The Jeremiad in American presidential speeches. Amsterdam: John Benjamins Publishing Company.
- Orlikowski, W. J. and Yates, J. (1994). Genre repertoire: The structuring of communicative practices in organizations. Administrative Science Quarterly, 39(4), 541-574.
- Potts, A., Bednarek, M., & Caple, H. (2015). How can computer-based methods help researchers to investigate news values in large datasets? A corpus linguistic study of the construction of newsworthiness in the reporting on Hurricane Katrina. Discourse & Communication, 9(2), 149-172.
- President John Mahama’s speech at the National Memorial Service for Victims of June 03 (2015, September 17). Retrieved from www.presidency.gov.gh/node/969
- Read, S. (2016). The net work genre function. Journal of Business and Technical Communication, 30(4), 419-450.
- Reiff, M. J., & Bawarshi, A. (Eds.). (2016). Genre and the performance of publics. Boulder, CO: University Press of Colorado.
- Rutherford, B. A. (2005). Genre analysis of corporate annual report narratives: A corpus linguistics–based approach. The Journal of Business Communication (1973), 42(4), 349-378.
- Schryer, C. F., & Spoel, P. (2005). Genre theory, health-care discourse, and professional identity formation. Journal of Business and Technical Communication, 19(3), 249-278.
- Sparks, G. (2015, June 15). Alpha life organizes blood donation exercise for flood disaster victims. ModernGhana. https://www.modernghana.com/news/623517/alpha-life-organizes-blood-donation-exercise-for.html
- Spinuzzi, C. (2004). Describing assemblages: Genre sets, systems, repertoires, and ecologies. Computer Writing and Research Lab, 1-9.
- State Flood Assessment: Report to the Legislature, 86th Legislative Session. Texas Water Development Board:https://texasfloodassessment.org/doc/State-Flood-Assessment-report-86th-Legislation.pdf
- The New Humanitarian. (2015, June 12). The New Humanitarian. https://www.thenewhumanitarian.org/feature/2015/06/12/ghana-hard-hit-flooding-once-again
- Thieme, K. (2006). Uptake and genre: The Canadian reception of suffrage militancy. Women's Studies International Forum, 29(3), 279-288.
- Warner, M. (2002). Publics and counterpublics. Public Culture, 14(1), 49-90.
- Wegner, D. (2020). A genre analysis of social change: Uptake of the housing-first solution to homelessness in Canada. Parlor Press.
- Winsor, D. A. (1999). Genre and activity systems: The role of documentation in maintaining and changing engineering activity systems. Written Communication, 16(2), 200-224.
- World Bank. (2017). Enhancing urban resilience in the Greater Accra Metropolitan Area (English). Washington, D.C.: World Bank Group. http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/949241495793834492/Enhancing-urban-resilience-in-the-Greater-Accra-Metropolitan-Area
- Yates, J., & Orlikowski, W. (2002). Genre systems: Structuring interaction through communicative norms. Journal of Business Communication, 39, 13-35.