AbstractsLanguage, Literature & Linguistics

The pervasive container metaphor of language used in writing classes carries connotations that writing is a product containing meaning, rather than a process of meaning-making, inquiry, and discovery. This framework is both problematic and harmful as it fails to capture the embodied nature of writing, ignoring the body as a crucial part of composing. As an alternative, this project moves towards a view of writing as techn?? in which craft and technique are deeply intertwined through the dynamic relationship between text, body, and context. Working from this concept of techn??, this project suggests metaphors can be extended into the physical realm for use in the classroom. Through the construction of embodied metaphors, or physical table-top models that make figurative expressions or concepts tangible, students can reflect on the writing process via a material engagement that stresses the mess of composing and its value as a social, lived experience.