At 03.03 -0400 01-04-11, Eugene Matusov scrobe:
>I think that the differences go far beyond stylistic differences in academic
>writing and are rooted in differences in academic and other sociocultural
>practices in Russia and the US. By no means, I want to claim myself an
>expert
>in either Russian or American academic discourses. However, it seems to me
>that
>these cultural differences are important and they exceed the simple
>notion of
>which academic discourse is more efficient for carrying on author's ideas.
>Despite a popular belief that science is an international endeavor, I think
>academic readership and demands from a broader society are different in
>different countries.
I think I am getting in contact with a similar difference in academic
cultures with exchange students from Italy and Spain. In my Swedish
apprenticeship into academic discourse I have been appropriated into a very
US-oriented style, I think, and like you I am concerned not to treat their
tradition as deficient - at the same time as I want to give them a chance
at the power of discourse that provides grounding and support for the
author's point.
>In the context of this review, I see one possible solution in clear
>communicating to the author the expectations of American academic readers
>for
>an American academic publication, stressing the idea that each national
>academic community has worked out its own style of academic discourse that
>works best for the community. In my view, [the author's]paper is an
>eclectic mixture of Russian and American discourse styles. If I am right in
>my observations and analysis, perhaps, it is better for a Russian scholar to
>separate the academic discourse styles for Russian and American academic
>readerships. "
I wonder if it is too much to hope for the possibility that the American
academic readership can learn to appreciate Others?
What do you think?
Eva
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