Jacob Chambers

Ms. Litle

Eng Comp 121

March, 2017

Charles Bazerman's Theory on Genres

Genres help to define our lives and the situations that we are thrust into. These self

reinforcing sets of circumstances help determine our reactions and communication from one

person to another using social facts as their guidelines. Charles Bazerman argues that humans

lives were organized into genres that dictate how we act and react in certain situations, this

theory helps one to understand the factors that affect their daily lives and our actions in those

situations.

To understand what Bazermans theory is trying to explain ome must first understand

what a social fact is. A social fact is quite simply anything that a group of people believes is true,

whether or not the belief in question is in fact correct (Bazerman, 368). This means that a group

of people can be led to believe vehemently in social facts that are false, even dangerously so. An

example is peoples belief that flying is more dangerous than driving, despite vast statistical

evidence that the contrary is true (Bazerman, 369). People act upon what their accepted social

fact is and will continue to act upon that accepted social fact until the event that a new social fact

becomes evident (Bazerman, 369).

Because social facts are caused by words, each phrase or sentence that is uttered becomes

a speech act (Bazerman, 370). But for our words to have their desired effect, they must be said

to the right person, at the right time, with the right set of mutual understandings (Bazerman,

370). Each phrase operates in three levels. First is the locutionary act, which is the actual act of
making the statement, for example, It is cold in here. The second is the illocutionary act, which

is what the intent is of the issued statement. In the case of the statement there could have a

number of meanings, ranging from being a veiled request to turn up the heat, or a simple

statement that the area is cold (Bazerman, 371). Finally is the perlocutionary act, or the response

to the original statement, which may or may not accord to the originally illocutionary request. In

the case of the example of It is cold in here the perlocutionary act may be the person who hears

the statement turning up the heat, or giving you a blanket, or simply doing nothing (Bazerman,

371).

These three factors combine to create what is called a genre. Genres are sets of

circumstances that our mind has categorized into recognizable self reinforcing sets of

communication. These genres dictate how we react to all sorts of situation (Bazerman, 372). We

thereby organize our communication through these genres and genre sets, or closely related

genres that correspondingly work together (Bazerman, 373). Genre sets can then be used by a

person to help figure out how to interact with another person in a new genre by taking past

experiences in closely related genres and applying those rules to the new genre.

Bazermans ideas put a new spin onto how we communicate and interact with one

another. It allows us to classify how we have interacted with one another using simple

classifications and then to act accordingly. We experience this daily in our lives.

Examples that are easily seen are our behavior in such places as polite company and

that which is more informal. If I for example, am with close friends and buddies, then it is likely

that the conversation will be lude, laden with swearing, and filled with joking. However, if

placed in a more formal setting, such as in public or with a respected leader, then the
conversation will be more serious with formalities observed. Genres such as this help to keep

people from making errors when communicating with one another.

Once known and understood these genres become very intriguing to analyze and classify

as everybody acts in accordance to their understanding of a certain genre, despite rarely giving

thought to what exactly it is that they are actually doing. Look throughout ones life and you can

see genres working everywhere.

The basics of understanding how speech acts work is also incredibly important as a basic

understanding is crucial to communicating effectively and minimizing conflict due to mutual

misunderstandings. Since many have common genres then people have the ability to work

together easier as their illocutionary acts more understandable among different people thereby

cutting down the misunderstandings among individuals. In particular the illocutionary act an

understanding of speech acts comes in handy as many times it is difficult to figure out what the

intent is of a statement, which oftentimes leads to many conflicts. In other words, a

understanding of illocutionary meaning smooths out interactions among different people.

Bazermans idea as to what exactly a genre is is incredibly useful to identifying how we

interact with one another. It is interesting to see Bazerman incorporate elements of the Symbolic

discipline of sociology, or the study of how symbols (language included) interacts within a

society, into his theory on genres. His idea of speech acts is very similar to what symbolic

sociologists believe and study (Boundless).

Overall Charles Bazermans theory on genres is a fresh and interesting way for one to

see the world through, more specifically how humans interact with one another in such rigid

constant ways. It allows for us to analyze our forms of communication in more detail, a better

form of analyses. Bazerman had rooted his theory in what is obviously a real world format
allowing for the reader to easily take use of the information found in the article and apply it to

his or her own life. In essence Bazerman created a useful interesting theory on how, why, and

with what humans communicate with one another.

 Works Cited

Boundless. "The Symbolic Interactionist Perspective - Boundless Open Textbook." Boundless.

Boundless, 26 May 2016. Web. 24 Mar. 2017.

Bazerman, Charles Speech Acts, Genres, and Activity Systems: How Texts Organize Activity and

People What Writing Does and How It Does It An Introduction to Analyzing Texts and Textual

Practice. Ed. Charles Bazerman and Paul Prior. London: Routledge, 2004, 309-39. Print