Rhetoric as embodied and distributed
Here's a good moment in Hutchins (Cognition in the Wild, 1994), where he makes a case about how information processing is more than mere computation, cognition is more than what's going on in the subject's head, and the social structure is more than a static semiotic framework. Here is a good case of rhetoric as embodied and distributed, linking individual material performance with socially organized ways of knowing and doing as a barometer for others to assess the character of a person within a group:
The social structure is not only the framework on which the communication is based, it is also the mechanism that is in place prior to the interactions to ensure that they take place as required. Why should the pelorus operator cooperate? Because adequate performance is the currency of social interaction. The novice quartermaster is institutionally located in such a way that his actions can be taken both as contributions to the process and as claims to or justifications of membership in the social world of the other quartermasters. ... It is clear that when quartermasters report bearings, assign landmarks, or ask for data, they are not just constructing position fixes; they are also constructing social relationships. And the fact that their respective responsibilities are so well specified does not eliminate the possibility of loading social messages into the communication acts that make up the work. (p. 225)
