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Edwin Detrez
Professor Leslie Wolcott
ENC 1102
07/06/2014
An Analysis of Genre in Complex Discourse Communities
The perspective of genre and its function in literacy has been redefined by Professor Amy
J. Devitt of the University of Chicago. She elucidates that genre is more than just categorizing
literature, and that it is a response to a rhetorical situation. She then presents the importance of
genre in discourse communities and how it can assist in understanding and analyzing these
discourse groups. In her co-written article, Materiality and Genre in the Study of Discourse
Communities, with professors Anis Barwashi and Mary Jo Reiff about genre in discourse
communities, Devitt explicitly states that, All genres exist through and depend on human action,
so these community-spanning genres, too, depend on the cooperation of participants from
multiple communities, on people accepting the roles the genres assign to them and on being able
to carry out the tasks expected of them. Genre greatly impacts the ability of others to join a
distinctive discourse community, connections between community members, and even
connections to other communities, especially in complex discourse groups such as the
neuroscience community.
If we examine a neurological scholarly article we are immediately exposed to the surface,
necessary requirements to be a part of this discourse community. In the article Intracerebral
Microdialysis in Clinical Practice: Baseline Values for Chemical Markers during Wakefulness,
Anesthesia, and Neurosurgery, the authors vocabulary choice in text is very medically oriented.
We can begin to understand that this article is obviously not meant for a middle-school child to
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read as a pastime. This article is an excellent example of the importance of genre and how it
affects the community. A majority of the people with the ability to fully read and comprehend
this article will have an occupation in the medical field and a good portion of even those
individuals will be specialized in neurology. This discourse community uses certain words and
dialect that only other members of the community are able to understand such as, Microdialysis
catheters were inserted into normal posterior frontal cerebral cortex in nine patients who were
undergoing surgery to treat benign lesions of the posterior fossa. This can be described as genre
because there are certain requirements and prior knowledge necessary to be a functional member
of this discourse community, therefore, we not only categorize the type of literature pertaining to
the community, but its participants, reactions, and even situations involved in the community.
However, there are points in the discourse community which attempt to bridge the
neurological discourse group and another, that of the patient. For example, examining the
Carolina Neurosurgery & Spine Associates, PA consent form we can determine that the form is
created for patients and written in terms which are understood easily by those who understand
their condition and are preparing for surgery. The form does contain terms that most doctors
would recognize immediately such as Sickle Cell Anemia or Hypertension that requires
medication. However most patients might not recognize the terms except for what they have
been diagnosed with. There is an evident bridge between the understandability of the document
for patients and the ease of recognition for surgeons. The average literate patient is able to fill out
the form with relatively no comprehension issues, and the neurosurgeon will still understand
exactly what procedure is taking place and they will be aware of any other medical issues
pertaining to the patient. This bridge can provide excellent ground for analyzing this discourse
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community. It allows an access point to those who do not have years of medical practice
education and experience to be able to comprehend exactly what is taking place.
Another important component of the genre of the neurological community is the
intercommunication between members. For instance, a medical screening form, very similar to a
medical survey, is usually filled out by a nurse or assistant about a patient. In Temple University
Health Systems MRI screening form we can detect a list of medical issues with a blank space to
mark yes or no. Prior to the MRI test, a nurse will ask questions to the patient listed on this form.
The nurse/ assistant will then give this to the neurologist who will overlook the form and make
sure they can proceed with the MRI. The nurse understands the importance of writing the correct
information so the neurologist can take the proper precautions before putting the patient through
the diagnostic. This demonstrates an important branch of genre within the discourse community.
Both the nurse and neurologist have important roles to play and must act accordingly to produce
desired results within the community. The nurse must obtain the correct information and the
neurologist must take the proper precautions and follow the proper procedures to ensure the
patients safety and proper diagnosis.
Genre not only encompasses categorization of literate materials, it contains the
participants of a given discourse community, their actions within the community, and how the
community connects its members and connects to other communities. Devitt gives many
examples in other discourse communities that support this claim such as politicians and
legislators being able to read and comprehend a ballot more so than a voter because they create
them. This gap in the understandability of communication of a discourse community is what
creates genre, but it also poses a problem in genre analysis. That is why an important component
of genre is the connection between the discourse community and other communities, so we can
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better understand how a certain discourse community operates, and so we can learn to appreciate
and become a part of them.

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Cited Sources:

Reinstrup, Peter. Neurology. Intracerebral Microdialysis in Clinical Practice: Baseline Values
for Chemical Markers during Wakefulness, Anesthesia, and Neurosurgery. 47.3 (2000): 545+.
PubMed. Web. 6 July 2014.

"Carolina Neurosurgery & Spine Associates - Patient Forms." Carolina Neurosurgery & Spine
Associates - Patient Forms. N.p., n.d. Web. 06 July 2014.

Digital image. Http://www.temple.edu/. Temple University Health System, n.d. Web. 6 July
2014.

Devitt, Amy J., Anis Barwashi, and Mary Jo Reiff. Materiality, Genre, and Language.
Materiality and Genre in the Study of Discourse Communities. 5th ed. Vol. 65. N.p.: National
Council of Teachers of English, n.d. 541-58. Special Issue. JSTOR. Web. 6 July 2014.