In this volume, Bhatia discusses multiple aspects of written discourse as produced in the real world by focusing not just on academic genres but on genres from professional and institutional contexts as well. His consideration of disciplinary variation in genres, relationships across genres, appropriation of generic resources as seen in hybrid genres, and the nature of generic integrity has led to an extension of genre theory not “constrained by the nature and design of its applications” (p. xiv) that is discussed here. In addition to this development of genre theory, this well-crafted volume provides a multiperspective, multidimensional model of genre analysis.
The volume is divided into five sections. The first section gives a useful overview of written discourse analysis, discusses a four-space model for analyzing written discourse, and provides a genre-based view of discourse. The other four sections discuss the worlds of reality, private intention, analytical perspectives, and applications as they relate to written discourse. The first two of these sections elucidate the extension to genre theory that Bhatia is contributing to the field, whereas the last two sections delineate the analytical framework needed to work effectively within this new perspective on genre as well as the applications of genre theory to real life.
A valuable contribution in this extension of genre theory is the clarification that it offers of many overlapping concepts that have been employed in genre analysis so far, such as that among registers, genres, and disciplines. Additionally, Bhatia provides a lucid description of the complexity of generic patterns when discussing disciplinary variation, an important component of recent genre studies. Genre sets, systems of genres, and disciplinary genres are also distinguished to shed light on the workings of the world of discourse. The important concepts of supergenres or colonies of genres lead to a discussion of appropriation of generic resources, which reflects the complex communicative realities of genres in practice—in contrast to the pure genre used in pedagogical contexts, according to Bhatia. I believe that a particular strength of this volume is the discussion of genre bending and hybrid genres that result from generic appropriation. Mixed genres are used to argue for the dynamic, flexible, and contested nature of generic integrity.
Bhatia's volume does not just discuss a theory of genre that accounts for the universe of real-life communicative behavior, but it also attempts to discuss the competence that “we all need in order to expertly operate within well-defined professional as well as general socio-cultural contexts” (p. 144), which he terms discursive competence and which includes textual, generic, and social competence. This discussion of discursive competence relates Bhatia's work on written discourse to areas of concern to SLA, particularly communicative competence. The acquisition issues discussed in chapter 5 are further discussed in the last chapter, where there is a more extended discussion of issues of teaching and learning. Although Bhatia's primary motivation for this volume is to explore the real world of discourse and to move away from the idealized world presented in language teaching, he does return to important matters of learning and teaching in the final section of the volume.
Another key part of this volume is the analytical model provided for investigating the real world of discourse. Bhatia does an excellent job of describing a framework that would enable a multidimensional and multiperspective analysis of professional discourses that includes various kinds of data.
A significant contribution is made to genre theory and analysis by this volume. The abundant use of textual examples from a variety of contexts, such as business and law, makes the arguments of the author easy to follow. The liberal use of diagrams also increases the readability of this volume. An understanding of the complexity of the real world of written discourse provided by Bhatia's volume is a necessary step in our understanding of the complexities of the acquisition of professional expertise in discourse production and consumption.
