Presentational Symbolism and the Production of Text

Drawing upon the ideas of Susanne K. Langer and emphasizing noncommunicative aspects of writing, this article presents a theory describing the evolution of text. This article first distinguishes between discursive symbolism—the use of language to describe verifiable outward reality—and presentational symbolism—the production of symbols, often nonverbal, to objectify states of consciousness. It goes on to argue that authors resort to presentational symbolism in order to refresh and replenish their discursive language. Thus text derives in part from preverbal and even preintellectual mental operations. The frequently remarked recursiveness of text production may result from authors' discovering their discursive meanings as they return to the presentational imports from which the meanings arise, much of the whole process of composition growing out of the interaction between these two kinds of mental activity. The article examines the implications of this theory for understanding students' writing behavior and for improving instruction in writing.