Situating Composition: Composition Studies And The Politics Of Location

by Lisa S. Ede

Ede, Professor Lisa

280 pages, Hardcover

First published November 24, 2004

Reviews

[Michael · Rating 5 out of 5]

In Situating Composition, Lisa Ede questions much about the politics of the location of composition studies within university institutions. She questions "ideologies of the 'new'" (Evan Watkins's term) that pervade recent histories of composition studies that narrate a progress narrative and a revolution (from process theories to social theories, for instance) that might not match up well with the actual material practices of what happens in many composition classrooms (44). She charges that as scholars in the field critique different perspectives, they all too often create caricatures of each other (50). One such critique is of the "writing process movement," a term she claims is a "floating signifier," a term that we recognize but cannot pin down (63). She expresses suspicion of theoretical terms and positions, especially when they propose a new paradigm or critique an "old" paradigm, which is often too simplistic. Ede is most interested in practice, and wants to call attention to scholarly writing as itself a practice (119). She argues that theory should be "situated practice" (128).

[Lance · Rating 2 out of 5]

Though there is a kernel of goodness in this critique of theory, you have to wade through a crap load of caveats and disclaimers. There is way too much "situating" going on here. Ede makes some great points, reminding us that the classroom is far too complex to be contained by a single theory, proposing that theory should come from the ground. I think this book would have been much more effective as an ethnography, where she could actually perform her critique, rather than write a mediocre book about it.

[MarkMcgwire · Rating 3 out of 5]

took me a while, but ede's notion of situating composition is a refreshing alternative to identifying a universal approach to writing pedagogy