Linda Gilmore
Allen, Jo. "The case against defining technical writing." Journal of Business and Technical Communication, 4.2 (1990), 68-77.
While others argue for the necessity of nailing down a concrete definition of technical writing, Allen takes the opposite view in her 1990 article. Though she acknowledges some benefits to achieving a concise definition of technical writing, such as the ability to compare academic programs and establish the professional basis of technical communication, Allen stands firm on the idea that a neatly packaged definition of technical writing would ultimately compromise the field (68, 69). According to Allen, the complex and variable nature of technical writing is the heart and soul of the field, and the very thing that makes defining it so elusive. To press it down, restrict, and conform it so that it will fit in a nice, little Reader's Digest condensed box just so it will fit in with other academic definitions would do the field of technical writing an injustice.
Having a certain set of parameters in place in order to effectively present material and ideas from a technical writing perspective is definitely necessary. However, the variety of career and research options available to students is one of technical communication's biggest attractions. It would be a shame to neutralize the unique and progressive qualities of technical writing programs just to fit in.
Hi Linda,
ReplyDeleteThis sounds like an interesting article. I wonder what the author of this article might posit as a definition if she(he?) were to try today, or perhaps if she were to have to pinpoint at least some qualities characteristic of "technical writing." While I understand Allen's argument that creating a definition might compromise the field (since, as stated, the very nature of the field is variable), I feel as though we almost need something to grasp on to, if only for the purpose of defining technical writing for academic settings (so that students and future scholars have an understanding of the field they might choose to study further). That said, however, maybe it's not a "definition" that is needed -- perhaps just a series of guiding principles for the field...an ethics or standard of technical writing, if you will.