Postcomposition First Edition

An established and prolific scholar, Dobrin (English, Univ. of Florida) has authored and edited several books that have moved the field’s discourse beyond student writing processes and program administration. Here the author underpins reference to scholars and theorists whose ideas and claims build his notions on how the field might further evolve. He devotes the first several chapters (of seven) to establishing long-standing problems of self-definition and limitation in composition studies and to defining concepts central to his proposals–concepts such as “posthuman” and even the concept of “space” as it pertains to the discipline. Those who accept the argument in chapter 4 on the stagnation of current scholarship and the diminished value of the work of writing-program administrators may be interested in the remaining chapters and their proposition of a “posthuman” paradigm shift toward systems theory, complexity theory, and fluid mechanics to “disrupt” composition studies toward more productive and appropriate scholarly venues. The somewhat playful final chapter seems meant to cajole; even so, the sting of Dobrin’s unflinching critique is palpable. Occasionally more repetitive or verbose than necessary, this dense book is a must read for specialists. Summing Up: Recommended. Graduate students, researchers, faculty. — C. E. O’Neill, New Mexico State University at Alamogordo

–C. E. O’Neill “CHOICE” (1/1/2012 12:00:00 AM)

In all, the impact of Postcomposition promises to be a meteor-and-the-dinosaurs scenario. The dust will settle, and we’ll have/be something different. – Jeanne Gunner, co-editor of The Writing Program Interrupted

The author’s purpose is to disrupt, and for those readers who understand that Composition is best served by scholarship that challenges our own complacencies and institutional placement, this will be a most welcome (and much needed) book. -Frank Farmer, author of Saying and Silence: Listening to Composition Studies with Bakhtin