Beteiligte: | , |
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In: | Technical Communication, 61, 2014, 2, S. 76-94 |
veröffentlicht: |
Society for Technical Communication
|
Medientyp: | Artikel, E-Artikel |
Umfang: | 76-94 |
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ISSN: |
0049-3155
1938-369X |
veröffentlicht in: | Technical Communication |
Sprache: | Englisch |
Schlagwörter: | |
Kollektion: | sid-55-col-jstoras14 JSTOR Arts & Sciences XIV Archive |
<sec> <label>Purpose:</label> <p>The risk to the safety, identity, and vitality of a community is important for every citizen with a dangerous neighbor, be it military installations, oil refineries, nuclear power facilities, fertilizer factories, airports, or train stations. The historical case of Port Chicago—a failed relationship of a military facility and its neighboring civilian community—offers important lessons regarding the nefarious practice of erasive rhetoric and the missed opportunities for cultivating cooperation and communication.</p> </sec> <sec> <label>Method:</label> <p>A critical review of historical records and pertinent communications from military and civilian sources uncovers a series of rhetorical practices damaging to the safety, identity, and vitality of a community.</p> </sec> <sec> <label>Results:</label> <p>The language practices of name-changing, dismissive and derogatory descriptions, passive voice, negative claims, tactical omissions, and elaborate pejorative detail, separately and collectively, serve to fortify the source of danger while erasing the object of danger.</p> </sec> <sec> <label>Conclusion:</label> <p>This provocative and still timely case challenges technical communicators to bring together officials from military, industrial, and transportation facilities with the residents of neighboring cities for instructive and productive interactions that generate trust, save lives, and preserve communities.</p> </sec> |