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A Temporal Approach to Organizational Rhetoric: A Case Study of the
Pittsburgh Citizen Police Review Board
Author: Danielle Zawodny Wetzel
Degree: Ph.D. in Rhetoric, Carnegie Mellon University, 2005
My dissertation is an observation-based study of the emergent rhetorical
practices of a new organization. In the project, I use discourse
analytical methods to explore how rhetorical practices are shaped by
multiple constraints over time. Each chapter examines a critical
rhetorical practice for the organization, including selecting a logo,
interacting with the Pittsburgh public, reviewing citizen complaints, and
drawing on procedural documents. The work suggests that because of the
dynamic, shaping forces of multiple constraints, organizational rhetoric is
both contingent and flexible. The project calls for a focus on temporality
in rhetorical research, to see rhetorical practices as ad hoc rather than a
priori or predetermined. A temporal perspective problematizes assumptions
about what constitutes success for rhetorical practices in a new
organization, since unfolding exigencies present individuals with
continually new, unanticipated situations. This perspective suggests that
pedagogically, we should design tasks and teach practices that enable
student writers to identify constraints that shape rhetorical exigencies
for writing, to meet the unfolding needs of an academic or other
professional audience. |