Enculturation is a refereed journal devoted to contemporary theories of rhetoric, writing, and culture. We accept academic work in all media forms suitable for web-based publication, including conventional articles, hypertexts, videos, and multimedia projects. Submitted articles and projects are blind-reviewed and considered for publication on the understanding that they are not under consideration elsewhere. Traditional articles should be approximately 4000-6000 words long, reviews 1000-2000 words. We also invite unsolicited reviews for books, CDs, films, websites, media events, and conferences.
Enculturation 2.0 attempts to keep the traditional feel and usability of the print journal with issues, tables of contents, and articles, while integrating the functionality of blogs and social networking sites. Users can navigate and read articles without logging in as on any standard website; can register to set a profile, post comments, submit links, and list their blogs on our aggregator; or can register and request permission to set up a blog on Enculturation's site. The nature of knowledge production is changing and the concept of the journal needs to hang on to what is important about its traditional practices as well as move into the new technological era.
Enculturation as a concept is the process of teaching an individual the norms and values of a culture through unconscious repetition. The totality of actions within a culture establishes a context that sets the conditions for what is possible within the society. Learning in this context becomes a life-long process developed through rhetoric in the form of speech, texts, images, and gestures that reaffirm the technological, economic, political, social, ideological, and philosophical bases of the culture.
This is a critical concept for anyone working in the areas of rhetoric, culture, and education. The process of enculturation sets both possibilities and limits, so educators cannot automatically assume the contexts they create are unproblematically positive. Rhetoricians and teachers also cannot ignore the unconscious, habitual elements of their texts and classrooms. And with the movement of culture online, an entirely new context for enculturation is being developed. The journal invites submissions and discussions on these issues in this time of intense cultural change.
