This is my colleague Chris Cocchiarella’s summary of the fifth chapter of Wilson and Sperber’s (2012) Meaning and Relevance. We previously posted Chris’s summary of the book’s preface, an intro to some of the terms and concepts of Relevance Theory, and a his summary of the introductory Chapter 1. All the other chapters before the present one have also… Continue reading M&R Ch 5: A deflationary account of metaphors
This is my colleague Chris Cocchiarella’s summary of the fourth chapter of Wilson and Sperber’s (2012) Meaning and Relevance. We previously posted Chris’s summary of the book’s preface, an intro to some of the terms and concepts of Relevance Theory, and a his summary of the introductory Chapter 1. All the other chapters before the present one have also… Continue reading M&R Ch. 4: Rhetoric and relevance
This is my colleague Chris Cocchiarella’s summary of the second chapter of Wilson and Sperber’s (2012) Meaning and Relevance. We previously posted a summary of the book’s preface, an intro to some of the terms and concepts of Relevance Theory, and a summary of Chapter 1. I also posted a claim that Relevance Theory matters to rhetoric and TC. Concepts… Continue reading M&R Ch. 2. The mapping between the mental and the public lexicon
This is my colleague Chris Cocchiarella’s summary of the first chapter of Wilson and Sperber’s (2012) Meaning and Relevance. We previously posted a summary of the book’s preface and an intro to some of the terms and concepts of Relevance Theory. I also posted a claim that Relevance Theory matters to rhetoric and TC. This… Continue reading M&R Chapter 1–Introduction: Pragmatics
Chris Cocchiarella and I are working on a book review of Meaning and Relevance (M&R), the 2012 collection of scholarly essays in linguistic pragmatics by Deirdre Wilson and Dan Sperber, who present relevance theory (RT), a cognitive, as opposed to merely linguistic, theory of communication. By a ‘cognitive’ theory, they mean not only the process… Continue reading Is Relevance Theory relevant to rhetoric?
Ron Pethoud was my 6th grade teacher at Westridge Elementary in Harlan, Iowa, in 1978-79. Along with a few other teachers before and after, he played an important role in my life. I know he has been struggling with health problems the last couple years. His daughter Ronna asked friends and former students to give… Continue reading Open letter to Mr. Pethoud
The references below are intended to be useful for attendees of today’s Doing Rhetoric conference at the University of Minnesota. I’ve provided very rudimentary annotations. Bawarshi, A. S., & Reiff, M. J. (2010). Genre: An Introduction to History, Theory, Research, and Pedagogy. Parlor Press. Useful overview of contemporary genre theory. Bazerman, C. (1988). Shaping Written… Continue reading Doing Rhetoric at the U 2013: Cognitive-pragmatic rhetoric and rhetorical genre: Useful references
This is the fourth post in a series exploring a possible cognitive theory of genre. The first, appearing here, covered some basic concepts from contemporary cognitive science. The second focused on prototype theory, script theory, and relevance theory. The third began to lay out some of the issues in genre theory where attention from a… Continue reading Cognitive genre theory IV: More thoughts on new theory & conclusion
(Updated 4/3/13 with correction regarding Schank and Abelson story about Dr. Schank’s daughter.) This is the third post in a series exploring a possible cognitive theory of genre. The first, appearing here, covered some basic concepts from contemporary cognitive science. The second focused on prototype theory, script theory, and relevance theory. You’ll find this post… Continue reading Cognitive genre theory III: First steps toward new theory
This is the second post in a series exploring a possible cognitive theory of genre. The first, appearing here, covered some concepts from contemporary cognitive science. You’ll find this post easier if you read the previous one. Not all the developments in cognitive science that are relevant to a cognitive theory of genre post-date the… Continue reading Cognitive genre theory II: Likenesses, scripts, and relevance