| Recently, post-process theories of composition have argued that we must reexamine how we produce texts in the digital age. Scholars such as Joe Marshal Hardin, Elizabeth Wardle, and others argue that writing is context-contingent and complex and, therefore, the ways we understand multimodal texts must shift. However, this charge for composition to move forward and beyond "traditional" notions of composing lack praxis to help instructors prepare students to compose texts that are realistic and useful beyond the college classroom. To this end, I argue for a rhetoric of authenticity that examines five external composing processes to help our discipline move beyond old process models while encouraging composing with multiple processes. The five processes are circulation, imitation, appropriation, collaboration, and exhibition. Each of these processes can help establish and enact authenticity in the digital age. The notion of what we consider authentic in the digital age creates problems for our students who produce texts that do not "look" like traditional, alphabetic texts. But it can also help audiences understand the importance of how multimodal texts create meaning in the digital age. Uncovering and examining these processes helps our discipline better understand and teach multimodal texts to our students. |
