Busting the Myth of the Communication Metaphor

Sarah Read is Associate Professor of English and Director of Professional and Technical Writing at Portland State University.

• List of Illustrations AcknowledgmentsPreface1. Harm Is Being Done2. Making the Communication Metaphor Visible3. What Does the Communication Metaphor Mean?4. Where Does the Communication Metaphor Come From?5. How Is the Communication Metaphor Perpetuated and Maintained?6. Experiments in Imagining a Post–Communication Metaphor WorldNotesReferencesIndex

"…the book practices what it preaches. Its elegantly designed hard cover, small typeface, educational-yet-cartoonish drawings, bulleted lists, and logical table of contents make for an engaging reading experience. The technical details of the book, including its lack of stylistic and typographical mistakes, exemplify good technical writing as the book defines it, enticing the audience for the purpose of persuasion. This combination of strengths is rare in a market flooded with uncopyedited books on writing-studies subjects that do not seem to practice what they preach." — Journal of Business and Technical Communication"Busting the Myth of the Communication Metaphor brings into sharp focus the various critiques of technical communication that scholars have had over the years, but with a lot more oomph. Read is clearly grappling with the field's role in (dis)organizing society, people, relations, allocating services, etc. and how facing up to that role can compel the field to do differently." — Josephine Walwema, Coordinator, Technical and Professional Communication, University of Washington"An excellent contribution to what is a new and very important aspect to our teaching and scholarly lives. This manuscript stuck with me and had me considering the ways I perpetuate in my own teaching the problems she discusses." — Carla Kungl, Shippensburg University"From the very start, this book challenges the reader to basically rethink everything we know about how writing works. Read argues that the 'Communication Metaphor' has invisibly shaped how we teach and understand writing, and maybe most importantly, she shows how our fundamental beliefs in how communication works are actively harmful to marginalized communities. The book is both an excellent analysis of the unexamined metaphorical language we use to talk about writing and an excellent historical account of how our basic beliefs have been conditioned by centuries of choices about 'proper writing.' The book is insightful, provocative, and an engaging page-turner with a strong voice and big, bold arguments. I hope it becomes required reading in our field." — Jordan Frith, Clemson University