Brandt & Clinton

In their essay, Brandt and Clinton focus on a social-practice perspective, specifically looking at the process of literacy. According to these two theorists, literacy is a social process rather than an individualistic and isolated one. In fact, they go so far as to describe social interaction as an active participant in the literacy process, rather than just a characteristic of the process. Brandt and Clinton borrow Latour’s idea of the actor network when they describe social interaction as a part of literacy. My understanding of Latour is nowhere near what Steven Hammer’s is, so I am not even going to pretend to know what I am talking about. However, I do know that taking this step to describe social interaction’s part in the literacy process does demonstrate how vital to social aspect is to Brandt and Clinton’s views.

This pair is not the first to suggest that a part of the composition process is social in nature. Karen Burke Lefevre in her book, Invention as a Social Act, discusses the invention process (the development of ideas at the initial stage of, among other applicable disciplines, composition) as a socially filled process. Lefevre helps break down the stereotypical depiction of the Romantic author, who was supposedly isolated and solely responsible for all ideas they came up with. In reality, everyone is influenced by forces outside of themselves during the invention process, whether or not the writer is conscious of these influences depends on the writer and his or her specific circumstances. For examples, a group of people may purposefully have a brainstorming session to help create ideas, making the social interaction known to the writer. Or, a writer maybe sitting in a public place, and overhear conversations that will stimulate ideas in the writer’s head, the writer may not realize that the previous interaction was what initially caused the idea, making it unconscious social interaction.

This notion of social interaction as an essential piece to multiple stages of the writing process is an important one to note and remember. Certainly, if nothing else, this shows us that each step of the composition process is, at least minimally, affected by social awareness and interaction. However these authors take it a step further, narrow in on one step of the process (Yes, in the grand scheme of things, I see literacy as a step in the composition process. Even if only tangentially related), and point out how this step is social. This emphasizes how important the social is and helps us use this knowledge to our advantage when we are practicing these processes ourselves.