Re: Techwriting after the boom
That's an interest comment, but I don't think I seeWell, I did say "the nearest." The point is, from the eighteenth century's view, if not ours, theology was a body of knowledge that the average person didn't have and needed explaining.
theology as a technical field.
I think it is possibleI'd agree with the first four more than the last. Geology is, or can be, more pure science than applied. To me, technical writing implies applied science, as opposed to research.
to find close precedents to technical writing (as we
know it) in earlier centuries, in such areas as engineering,
military science, mining, metallurgy, geology -- in short,
any time there is a requirement to publish technical
information.
Another important area where technical writing-like material might be found would be in navigation; there were various practical how-to books, introductions to the subject, and so on.
And if you extend the focus to include business writingPolicies and procedures, I'd agree with, but I'm not so sure about the other. Much of business writing and all of product descriptions and advertising imply not only a largely capitalist society, but also a consumer-based society. Both those are relatively rare. In fact, until 19th century Europe, which spread its economy across the globe, the only capitalistic, consumer society that readily comes to my mind is imperial Rome. There are probably others, but not too many.
(policies and procedures, product descriptions, advertising
copy), which most of us also get involved in from time to time
as technical writers, you can find many pre-industrial revolution
analogues.
You could even argue, I think, that writings of explorationAt the risk of sounding deliberateyl contrary, I'd also question the inclusion of accounts of exploration. On the whole, these were not purely technical in nature. Accounts of expeditions and of naturalist activities were the popular non-fiction of the 18th and 19th century: a form of entertainment, more often than not. If you read Richard Francis Burton's accounts of travelling to Mecca, or in West Africa (which are among the classics of this kind of literature), you soon have to conclude that conveying of accurate information wasn't the real point. Such accounts are designed to thrill people with a hint of the exotic - not to provide a Michelin Guide. Their closest analogies today would be works by people like Paul Theroux.
were an early antecedent of technical writing. Before these
journals, diaries, and maps could be published, editors, artists,
engravers, and scholars were enlisted to prepare them for
publication.
It was takenNot at all. The explorers and engineers took great pride in writing the material for themselves, often including the indexes and annotations. To hand over the material to hired hacks would amount to admitting a lack of education that would invalidate everything you had to say. An educated man was supposed to be able to express himself. Editors might suggest changes, but they were carried out by the writers themselves most of the time. If you compare the published works of Charles Darwin or Thomas Huxley to their letters, there is not much doubt that the published works were written almost entirely by them.
for granted that the "subject matter expert" (that is, the explorer
or engineer) was not able, without the help of "communications
experts" (editors, publishers, designers, annotators, indexers,
scholars) to prepare the material for publication.
It was only at a very low level of popular literature that people compiled material for general consumption. Oliver Goldsmith did a fair bit of this hackwork, for instance.
interventionSure. But publishing is not generally what is meant when people talk about subject matter experts. The term refers to the contents, not to the production of the finished product.
was required by people whose specialties were not in
the technical subject matter, but in the compilation,
design and production of books.
The idea, therefore, that the role of the "subject matter expert"Except that the 18th and 19th century were the ages of the glorious amateur, who tried to do everything and were expected by virtue of their education to be able to do so. For the most part, the same person who made the journey or the discovery fully expected to write it up in those centuries
in publishing is as new as the twentieth century -- let alone
as new as the last decade or two -- simply won't stand up to
a second's scrutiny.
Anyway, as interesting as this discussion is, in many ways it's not relevant to the basic point. The ethos of technical writing as we know it does not extend back over the last few centuries, but only over the last four or five decades. And, within this limited time frame, there does seem to have been a shift in expectations that happened somewhere between 1990-95. I moved into the field just in time to see the end of the shift.
The ravages of desktop publishing are another (and no less interesting matter). But, as I've said, that is the area of production, not content.
--
Bruce Byfield bbyfield -at- axionet -dot- com 604.421.7177
http://members.axion.net/~bbyfield
"My love is of a birth as rare
As 'tis for object strange and high;
It was begotten by Despair
Upon Impossibility."
- Andrew Marvell, "The Definition of Love"
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