Introduction

[David Stacey]

On Sat, 9 Jan 1999, Pegeen Reichert Powell wrote:
>
> Genre theory has been important to me as a link between rhetoric and
> sociolinguistics.

Hi Pegeen,
	I'm interested in this kind of thing too.  Want to read something
good about the overlap between discourse analysis, genre theory and etc?
Go to David Russell's home page and see his wide-ranging article on
"activity theory."  It's a kind of contrastive rhetoric lately being
championed by David and Chuck Bazerman.  Here's Russell's URL, and then
you can click to the article (a version of which appearrs also in
_Written Comunication_ as "Rethinking Genre in School and Society: An
Activity Theory Analysis," Written Communication 14 (1997): 504-554.

The URL:
drrussel at iastate.edu

You might also have a look at this of Russell's:
The Activity of Writing/The Writing of Activity. (coedited w
Charles Bazerman). A special issue of Mind, Culture, and Activity 4
(1997).

  But lately I have been especially excited about critical
> discourse analysis, particularly as theorized by Norman Fairclough, and the
> possiblilites CDA holds for a politically charged pedagogy.

Yes, I like Fairclough too although he can seem a bit solipsistic to me,
sliding off into his own theory building.  For a wider perspecitve on
"critical" methodologies you might have a look at Sharon Goodman (and
David Graddol's) _Redesigning English: new texts, new identities_
(Routledge, 1997).  And if you want to see some really great classroom
applications of this kind of language analysis, see Rob Pope, _Textual
Intervention_ (Routledge, 1995) or his more recent _The English Studies
Book_ (Routledge, 1998).  Both books present really powerful syntheses of
cultural studies, critical language study, literary theory: *great* stuff.

A lot of this kind of thing finds a nexus over in Great Britain, in the
Poetics and Linguistics Association (PALA).  This organization has done a
lot for me over the years.  If you're interested in their membership info
(sinfully cheap yearly dues, fantastically great annual conferences), let
me know and I'll send you some stuff.

discursively yours,

Dave STacey
Missouri Western