Doctoral Dissertations

Date of Award

5-1996

Degree Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy

Major

English

Major Professor

Michael L. Keene

Committee Members

Linda Bensel-Meyers, Ilona Leki, Kathleen deMarrais

Abstract

As composition studies has developed, it has shown a remarkable propensity to borrow and adapt ideas from other disciplines, inevitably transforming the ideas in the crucible of practice. While the use of a borrowing may depend initially upon the state and form of the idea in its own discipline at the time it comes to the attention of composition, borrowed ideas then often diverge or develop independently as we reshape them to meet the complexities of composition studies. This dissertation traces the importation and application of Thomas Kuhn's theory of paradigm shifts as an example of borrowing: first, examining Kuhn's theory as it originally developed and gained acceptance within a discipline outside of composition studies; second, tracing the process of borrowing; and third, describing the nature of Kuhn's appearance in composition studies. The current state of Kuhn's theory as we now use it in composition studies is compared with its present position within Kuhn's disciplines of the history and philosophy of science. For some in composition, Kuhn's ideas about the revolutionary nature of science and its paradigmatic structure have simply become a metaphor for describing the various shifts in emphasis within the profession; for others, his ideas accurately describe what goes on in composition studies. The intense look at Kuhn's importation provides an excellent view of the interdisciplinary nature and status of composition studies as scholarly inquiry.

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