Visions and Revisions: Continuity and Change in Rhetoric and Composition

by James Williams (Editor), Richard Lloyd-Jones (Contributor), W. Ross Winterowd (Contributor)

A history of contemporary rhetoric, Visions and Revisions: Continuity and Change in Rhetoric and Composition examines the discipline’s emergence and development from the rise of new rhetoric in the late 1960s through the present. Editor James D. Williams has assembled nine essays from leading scholars to trace the origins of new rhetoric and examine current applications of genre studies, the rhetoric of science, the rhetoric of information, and the influence of liberal democracy on rhetoric in society. Given the field’s diversity, a historical sketch cannot adopt a single perspective. Part one of Visions and Revisions therefore offers the detailed reminiscences of four pioneers in new rhetoric, while the essays in part two reflect on a variety of issues that have influenced (and continue to influence) current theory and practice. In light of the recent shift in focus of scholarly investigation toward theory, Williams’s collection contextualizes the underlying tension between theory and practice while stressing instruction of students as the most important dimension of rhetoric and composition today. Together, these chapters from some of the most influential scholars in the field provide a range of perspectives on the state of rhetoric and composition and illuminate the discipline’s development over the course of the last forty years.

272 pages, Paperback

First published March 18, 2002

Reviews

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a mixed bag so far. I got the book because it contains Harris's excellent "Knowing, Rhetoric, and science" (of which I had read a draft) along with several other interesting-sounding piece. Of those I have read so far, Clark's article on genre is useful (though covering some now-familiar ground), while everything but the very end of Fleming's article on "The End of Composition-Rhetoric" makes me wonder if he and I work in the same field, or even the same universe.

Update: I am even more baffled by Williams' piece, "Rhetoric and the Triumph of Liberal Democracy" in which he refers to the demise of standards and the death of excellence in American higher education without ever substantiating his claims, and in which he dismisses all of what he calls "identity politics" as being "based on superficial, deritualized, shared values and perspectives" and therefore not on par with "real community" (149).

More comments to come as I read other pieces.