Focusing on matters of power and difference, this article examines rhetorical theories
of genre and James Gee’s theory of Discourse. Although both theories offer productive
ways of understanding literate practice, it is argued, they are limited in crucial respects.
Genre theory offers few ways of understanding how and why some social actors
have an easier time than others in producing generic texts and getting their texts
deemed “legitimate” by recognized authorities. Gee’s theory, meanwhile, does not
explain precisely how and where (i.e., at which conceptual level) communicants
come to match Discourse to situation. This article contends that these limitations
may be surpassed if the two theories are brought together in a particular way. In
this new approach, genres and Discourses are viewed as mutually constitutive forms:
Genres exist within Discourses and Discourses exist within genres. In adopting this
approach, it is argued, researchers may study how particular genres are made to elicit
performances of Discourses connected to particular social groups.