Review: Bridging the Gap between Cultural Studies Theory and the World of the Working Practitioner  

Cultural studies is an academic field that focuses on understanding the unchallenged assumptions that constrain and shape communication and related interactions among people. Although the field has made considerable progress in the last half-century, many practitioners have either never encountered the field, or have encountered it only through extremist advocates who do the field a great disservice. As a result, they have lost the ability to benefit from the insights provided by cultural studies. In this paper, I review the recent book Critical Power Tools to provide an update on the current thinking in the field, and to demonstrate how the modern form of the field has much to teach technical communications practitioners who are willing to listen to what the theoreticians have to say.

Hart, Geoffrey J.S. International Journal for Technical Communication (2007). Articles>Reviews>TC>Cultural Theory

The Ethical Plight of the International Technical Communicator: A Search for Universals and Hypernorms  

Postmodernism is the recommended posture for technical writers working in international contexts. But should professional writers, adapting to local cultures, automatically adjust their most firmly held communication principles? O, are there technical or ethical criteria higher than the obligation to adapt.

Weiss, Edmond H. STC Proceedings (1998). Articles>TC>Cultural Theory

Rearticulating Civic Engagement Through Cultural Studies and Service-Learning    

Although service-learning has the potential to infuse technical communication pedagogy with civic goals, it can easily be co-opted by a hyperpragmatism that limits ethical critique and civic engagement. Service-learning's component of reflection, in particular, can become an uncritical, narrow invention or project management tool. Integrating cultural studies and service-learning can help position students as critical citizens who produce effective and ethical discourse and who create more inclusive forms of power. Rather than being tacked on, cultural studies approaches should be incorporated into core service-learning assignments.

Scott, J. Blake. Technical Communication Quarterly (2004). Articles>TC>Cultural Theory

Schemas in Intercultural Communication    

Raju demonstrates the importance of understanding cultural schemas—models providing patterns for understanding ideas or objects in a cultural context—when dealing with international technical communication.

Raju, Rita. Intercom (2008). Articles>TC>International>Cultural Theory

Feminist Theory and the Redefinition of Technical Communication    

To study the possible impact of feminist theory on technical communication, this article discusses six common characteristics of feminist theory: (a) celebration of difference, (b) impact on social change, (c) acknowledgment of scholars' backgrounds and values, (d) inclusion of women's experience, (e) study of gaps and silences in traditional scholarship, and (f) new female sources of knowledge. Three debates within feminist theory spring out of these common characteristics: whether to stress similarity or difference between the sexes, whether differences come from biological or social forces, and whether feminist scholars can avoid reinforcing binary opposition. The article then traces the impact of these characteristics of feminist theory and debates within feminist theory on the redefinition of technical communication in terms of the myth of scientific objectivity, the new interest in ethnographic studies of workplace communication, and the recent focus on collaborative writing.

Lay, Mary M. Journal of Business and Technical Communication (1991). Articles>TC>Cultural Theory>Gender

Cultural Contexts in Technical Communication:    

Explores how and why the German and Chinese cultures differ in the presentation and perception of technical information. Presents a theoretical framework for technical communication across different cultures. Provides guidelines to technical communicators in Sino-German technical communication and services.

Wang, Yiqin and Dan Wang. Technical Communication Online (2009). Articles>TC>Cultural Theory>International