Harris challenges discourse communities when he begins to quote Raymond Williams' Keywords: A Vocabulary of Culture and Society in "Williams and the Problem of Community". Williams states that "(Community) seems never to be used unfavourably, and never to be given any positive opposing or distinguishing term," (66). Harris takes this to mean that community can have an "empty and sentimental" meaning. I don't think Harris disagrees or rejects discourse communities, he just disagrees with the way it is viewed sometimes.
Johns also brings up the negative aspects of discourse communities when he discusses conflicts, diversity, authority, and the cost of affiliation. Like Harris, he doesn't disagree or reject discourse communities-- he just finds it beneficial to point out the cons as well as the pros so that one can make the most of their experience.
I believe we have spent so much time reading these articles so that we can only understand what a discourse community is, how discourse communities apply to writing, and how we can get the most out of our experiences with discourse communities.
Your analysis is great. I would like to see more of it; try to relate the ideas from the texts to your own experiences.
ReplyDeleteDanielle,
ReplyDeleteI liked how harris pointed out the pros and cons too. It helps the reader to determine their own thoughts.