The Keynotes of the 2016 Political Conventions: The Death of a Genre?

Abstract

The concept of genre is an important one in rhetorical criticism. Important work has been done on presidential genres as well as more general ones such as the jeremiad and the apologia. In this vein is work on certain genres that recur at the many political party conventions. If one adopts an historical perspective, there are, from early-on, many genres—some explored by scholars, some not: the welcome address, the keynote address, the nominating and seconding speeches, and the vice presidential and presidential nomination acceptance speeches. There are also, more recently, addresses by former presidents, vanquished candidates, and—since the 1990s—prospective first spouses. This essay focuses on just one of these genres, the keynote. I argue that the genre is an important one, one that performs both important rhetorical and political work. Based on the 2016 party conventions, the genre is very much an endangered species of political communication, portending rhetorical problems for the nation’s two parties.