Liminality, Authority, and Value: Reported Speech in Epideictic Rhetoric

Abstract

Reported speech—the verbal phenomenon wherein a speaker attributes words or ideas to a previous speaker—is a highly potent rhetorical practice in epideictic oratory. Its role is not as straightforward as one might suppose, as exemplified by a case study of Native American powwow rhetoric. In this study, epideictic speakers typify and construct reported speech, using both analytic and formulaic modes to elaborate on ceremonial messages. I suggest that the role of reported speech is twofold: to validate authority and to construct value. The formulae in particular are useful rhetorical devices in reifying “equality” in powwow social structure. Epideictic rhetoric employing reported speech does not merely perform the significance of a given society; it constructs and manipulates interaction in order to minimize differential identities. More importantly, reported speech is a particular triadic discourse that parallels the transformation phase of ritual, known as liminality. This essay asserts that liminality is at the heart of all epideictic rhetoric and is thus crucial for understanding ritual discourse such as reported speech.