Critical Genre Analysis

'... Vijay Bhatia writes something very profound and very important ... that genre theory often gives "the impression as if producing genres is an end in itself, rather than a means to an end". That I think is the ultimate and very valuable "take-home message" of this (book), and, in demonstrating this, it will provide a very useful corrective to the current direction of many contemporary studies of genre in academic and professional contexts.' - John M. Swales, Emeritus Professor of Linguistics at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor

'This book presents an innovative approach to genre analysis, which allows a multidimensional investigation of the varied and complex interrelations between the various factors interacting in the production of a specialized genre, such as the specific tradition of that genre and the specific contextual features, as well as the professional practice and the disciplinary culture of the community that adopts it. The clear discussion of the theoretical issues and the presentation of practical applications to various types of texts make this volume particularly useful not only to scholars for research purposes but also to lecturers for teaching aims.' - Maurizio Gotti, Università di Bergamo, Italy

'This book on critical genre analysis (CGA) is a valuable addition to genre research and a welcome extension to the author’s previous books on genre theory and application. In this book, the author does not merely focus on text-internal factors of typical academic and professional genres but goes beyond them by taking into consideration text-external factors such as interaction across genres, professional practices and disciplinary cultures surrounding texts. Furthermore, he adds a new dimension of ‘criticality’ to genre analysis in order to demystify the multi-perspective and multidimensional nature of professional practices. […] Overall, the book has not only extended the boundaries of genre analysis but also provided a powerful theoretical framework for the analysis of new and complex genres in professional settings.' — Sujata S. Kathpalia, Senior Lecturer, Language and Communication Centre, Nanyang Technological University

'Vijay Bhatia's Critical Genre Analysis builds upon his earlier seminal works with enduring energy, strength and resilience and effectively offers ground-breaking and compelling insights into the genre-based discursive activities and practices that lie ahead of genre theory, and provides the backdrop for a dramatically different and illuminative way of perceiving the multifaceted, evolutionary features and conventions of current genres from across academic, professional, institutional and organizational settings. By showcasing the merits of a linguistically minded perspective on interdiscursive performance of undeniable importance, this book pulls off the huge accomplishment of elucidating several text-external factors associated with the specific activities and practices of professionals in their (inter-)disciplinary contexts and cultures, and provides a pragmatic blueprint that enhances the influential criticality view of generic construction and use in today's professional activities and practices. At a crucial juncture in our knowledge of much generic output characterizing the immense diversity of communicative events, contexts and goals within and across the disciplines, the four relevant themed Parts included in this timely and original piece of work make for absorbing reading and promise to crystallize new and invaluable methodology and theory among discourse and genre-oriented academics and practitioners alike, including students from applied linguistics. To ignore the current problems surrounding the nature of genre production and interpretation set out across these pages would mean losing sight of the challenges and implications that this indispensable literature provides to the growing field of applied linguistics.' — Girolamo Tessuto, University of Campania 'Luigi Vanvitelli', Italy