Title

Writing With(out) Pain: Computing Injuries and the Role of the Body in Writing Activity

Authors

Kim Hensley Owens, University of Rhode IslandFollow
Derek van Ittersum

Document Type

Article

Date of Original Version

4-13-2013

Department

Writing and Rhetoric

Abstract

This article uses the lens of computer writing injuries to explore writing as an embodied activity. We use philosopher Mark Johnson's five-part definition of embodiment to develop an analysis that examines the physical, flesh-and-blood aspects of writing in addition to the social and cultural aspects of embodied activity. With this framework, we show the limits of purely technological solutions to writing injuries (like ergonomic keyboards) and explore the difficulties of including somatic training in the writing classroom. Rather than prescribing a single solution, we propose that these injuries require multifaceted infrastructural changes, and point to the benefits of approaching writing with mindfulness. We conclude by suggesting ways that writing instructors and scholars can use this framework to rethink the role of the body in writing activity.

Citation/Publisher Attribution

Ownes, Kim Hensley & Van Ittersum, Derek. Writing with(out) pain: Computing injuries and the role of the body in writing activity. Computing and Composition, vol. 30, no. 2, 2013, pp. 87-100.

Available at: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.compcom.2013.03.003