Generational Accusations – Conflict, Emotions, and Youth Activism

Abstract

Compared to rhetorical defenses the rhetoric of accusations has not garnered much attention from rhetorical critics over time. Two common threads in existing approaches to accusatory rhetoric are a link to an underlying affirmative motive and a view of accusations as a rhetorical genre. However, these threads have not been fully developed so far. This article takes its point of departure in Carolyn Millers rhetorical theory of genre and Celeste Michelle Condit’s work with angry public rhetorics in order to reveal the social motive of the accusatory genre. The argument here is that the main motive can be found in a desire for corrective action, but is further supported by a definitory and moral motive. This is then used as a basis for treating generational accusations as a specific form of accusation as well as analyzing it in relation to Greta Thunberg’s rhetorical accusations of older generations in the climate change debate