>
> Thank you, Russ, for the concept of the 'textoid', I will surely find uses
> for it!
>
> So when is a genre not a genre? a pseudo-genre? The scientific neutralism
> of formalist descriptive discourse analysis tends to accept at face value
> every genre as fulfilling some normal social function (like every species
> being adapted to its niche -- but a lot of species are NOT well-adapted to
> their niches, they may have moved in recently, they may be about to go
> extinct, they may be living on borrowed time till a superior competitor
> arrives, etc.).
>
> But the function of many social practices is to occupy a niche and so to
> exclude other practices from being developed (think about ideology,
> pseudo-science, and many things too controversial to name). Power and
> interests outside the niche can shelter a genre or practice or discourse
> from competition.
These are interesting points that can be clarified by dynamic
ecological models (like those described so accessibly in Roughgarden's new
*Primer of Ecological Theory*). For example, sometimes an occupant in a
niche is essential to the survival of others. For example, every century
or so Lake Superior freezes over hard enough for mooses to migrate to Isle
Royale. If they migrate there without wolves, they soon so overpopulate
the Isle that available moose resources are used up. Extinction by
starvation is very likely under those circumstances. If the wolves follow,
however, stable populations of both survive. I have evidence that the same
processes operate when human practices and genres are concerned. I have
looked at developmental research genres, children's drawing and writing
genres, and the strategies that Robert Siegler's child-subjects used in
number conservation problems. Some practices may be suppressed by others,
but some owe their survival to the others.
As to power and interests outside of the niche, these certainly
operate in many situations. Nevertheless, I was amazed to find the variety
of changes that were attributable to dynamics involving solely the
interchange between a few "internal" practices. Before doing the analysis
I would have predicted that some of the wild changes or prolonged
stabilities just _had_ to be due to external factors.
>
> Note the parallel peculiarity of textbooks to textoids: they purport to
> address an audience of students, but in fact they survive and flourish
> because of selections made by teachers, faculty, school boards, departments
> -- not students. Something like 'children's literature', which purports to
> address children's needs and interests, but in fact survives by curring
> favor with the parents who buy the books. Contrast such works with what the
> kids buy as soon as they have their own money.
>
> There may be many genres which ought not be analyzed by functionalist
> methods, i.e. on the assumption that their form follows their _avowed_ or
> apparent function, because of conflicts with or the dominance of covert
> functions, or because they are sheltered from the selection pressures of
> the nominal functional context by more remote social forces and interests.
Ecological theory actually gives a richer view of events than the
original functionalism allowed for. Form follows carrying capacity, growth
rate, initial strength, and competitive success. One thing left out even
by this rich set of concepts is where new genre come from. Migration from
other places/systems is certainly a candidate. Also, our discussion last
month of different time frames was illuminating. It was especially useful
when I began to realize from our current "settings" argument that the
ecological model implies a independent-dependent like separation between
organism and environment, when a more equal interweaving of organism and
environment might be more useful. To me, a beautiful outcome of such
thinking is that it suggests that we allow carrying capacity to change --
certainly an enriching and testable point, and one I have not seen
attempted.
> I think one could get a whole new dimension to genre theory by following up
> on such an idea. (Note that this is not the same as simply looking for
> ideology within a genre, but closer to looking at ideological functions of
> the genre's form.)
Absolutely! I also suspect that there are many methodological
genres for studying the problem -- philosophical analysis, ethnographic
analysis, ecological models, and today, we see even architecture.
David