ABSTRACT
During the early days of the process movement, articles in composition journals rarely addressed the concept of “genre.” Because the movement focused on self-expression and the discovery of personal voice as a means of empowering marginalized populations, “genre” was viewed as an old-fashioned, traditional, and outmoded concept, associated with an emphasis on literary texts, rigidity, and formalist conventions. Over the past 30 years, however, the word “genre” has been used outside of literary study, and it now pertains to more encompassing elements of a text. Reconceptualized as a rhetorical construct, genre is now defi ned not simply in terms of formal textual or structural characteristics, but rather in terms of function. Moreover, this new conception incorporates the idea that genre is associated with particular discourse communities and disciplines, that familiarity with particular genres constitutes a mark of membership or “belonging,” and that privileged genres are correlated with educational and professional accomplishment. Understanding genre, then, can help students achieve success, academically, socially, and economically, and this chapter will provide an overview of theoretical issues and pedagogical applications that are relevant to teaching writing.
