Rhetorical Criticism Research Articles

Between Cultural Engineering, Media Sensationalism & Memetic Propaganda: A Curious Case of Erratic Obituaries for Late American Secretary

A controversial and grotesque obituary for former US Secretary of State Madeleine Albright appeared on 25 March 2022, at the door of the Sokol House building in Banja Luka, the capital of the Bosnian Serb Republic. A similar obituary was found in Arilje, Serbia. Both obituaries quickly circulated on social media and became headlines in Serbian mass media, demonstrating the power of memes in spreading complex cultural information. This incident is being studied to understand how memetic content can be used in culture wars and public diplomacy and how the American government and Serbian-American relations are represented in Serbian public political discourse, particularly in relation to Albright's death. The study inspects the literature on memetics and thanatopolitics while introducing a rigorous research methodology (rhetorical criticism and mediated discourse analysis) in order to study the mentioned obituaries and accompanying news articles. Our findings suggest that using memes as collective memory anchors (or taking a meme's eye of view approach) can be effective in propaganda activities, particularly in culture wars. We argue that the analyzed case represents an instance of memetic propaganda, as it encompasses a sophisticated fusion of media sensationalism with memetic/cultural engineering techniques.

Reconstructing Kairos and Chronos Across Trump’s Twitter/X Corpus: Computational Methods + Rhetorical Critique

The collective force of ex-U.S. President Donald Trump’s tweets/Xs is palpable in American public culture, political discourse, and academic rhetorical criticism. Adopting a critical and computational approach, this essay offers a novel method for the rhetorical analysis of social media-based public address by shifting emphasis from memorable exemplars of Trump’s social media discourse to the flow dynamics between those tweets/Xs. Focused on loops of Tweets as recursive argument systems, we use a Latent Dirichlet Allocation (LDA) Markov Chain analysis to offer insight into the kairotic and chronic patterning of Trump’s social media utterances to map more and less stable argument strategies across distinct periods of his first Twitter/X presidency.

Towards a rhetorical theory of charisma: Corinthians, cults, and demagogic criticism

ABSTRACT Rhetorical studies has recently begun exploring theories of charisma in connection with demagoguery. These analyses raise difficult problems, in part because charisma is an amorphous concept that sutures conflicting theories of power together. In its twentieth-century career, charisma indexed theories of mass politics as well as theories of political extremism. Both uses of the term derive from Max Weber’s work, but the tension between them harbors an untold history of rhetoric. This essay explores that history to two main ends. First, I propose a theory of charisma as the appeal of violating rhetorical norms—trading on the implication that those norms express a natural rhetorical law and that their violation magically transcends that law. This theory is abstracted from charisma’s anti-sophistic connotations in the Corinthian epistles and from a rhetorical history of a modern religious cult that coincided with the term’s English vernacular uptake. Second, I disambiguate a populist charisma from an esoteric charisma, a distinction that rests upon the degree to which the anti-sophistic dimension of charisma endures its appropriation from antiquity. This disambiguation illuminates exigent conceptual and ethical problems that beset the rhetorical criticism of fascist demagoguery.

(Dis)entangling the ontopolitics of ecological theorizing for critical communication

ABSTRACT Amidst the Anthropocene, the contentious term given to our planetary epoch defined by human domination over earth systems, this essay will offer a series of explorations that illustrate the potentialities between critical communication theorizing and ecological thought. To help articulate this convergence, I organize my essay around the thematic figuration of “threads” to constellate an ongoing effort by scholars in and beyond the communication discipline who seek to conjure the theoretical tools necessary to register the complexity of power’s contemporary mode of expression. I navigate this threaded figuration in three ways. First, I demonstrate how the ecosophical model outlined in Félix Guattari’s political manifesto The Three Ecologies offers ground for contextualizing mutations of power in the Anthropocene while warranting a theoretical collaboration between ecosophy and critical communication in the present. Second, I apply Guattari’s ecosophical model to critical rhetoric, advancing a theoretical heuristic resonant with border rhetorics that may help critical communication scholars ontopolitically figure the power formations of our time. Third, I attempt to synthesize three “problematic threads” organizing contemporary discourses of critical and ecological theorizing.

Hobbes and Kant: Materialism and Rhetoric

This article examines the subtle nuances of Hobbes’s and Kant’s perspectives on rhetoric and materialism, contextualising them within the broader framework of political philosophy. Despite both philosophers being critics of rhetoric, their approaches exhibit notable divergences. Hobbes, who advocated for monarchy, criticized rhetoric from the perspective of a materialist anthropology influenced by Lucretius. However, he paradoxically employed rhetorical strategies in his new scientia civilis. Despite critiquing both Lucretian materialism and rhetoric, Kant incorporated certain rhetorical elements compatible with his philosophical framework, particularly in relation to Epicureanism. This study analyses their interpretations of paradiastole and the implications for the political thought. The argument is that both thinkers, in seeking a rational foundation for the political order, anchor their notions of rationality in Epicurean materialism, by reconfiguring rhetorical elements to suit their respective philosophies. The article elucidates Kant’s republican proclivities and his aspiration to maximize the citizens’ autonomy, which contrasts with Hobbes’s monarchical orientation. This research contributes to a more nuanced understanding of the early modern political thought and its relevance to the contemporary republican and democratic theory.

Invoking ethnic identity in the service of right-wing rhetoric: an analysis of 2022 Latina republican candidates in South Texas

Abstract Growing identification by U.S. Latines with the Republican Party has been of interest since the 2020 presidential election, especially in South Texas. This article presents a rhetorical criticism of three Republican Latina candidates for Congress in the 2022 midterms. Utilizing Latine rhetorical criticism of their campaign ads, we identify the strategic deployment of conservative ethnic identity that disavows racialized identity through anti-immigrant rhetoric. Instead of moderating anti-immigration discourse, as has been suggested by observers on how to attract Latine voters, these candidates instead redirect the immigrant threat narrative towards other subgroups of Latines. Also key in the deployment of ethnic identity for right-wing appeals is the construction of a political persona that emphasizes traditional Latine gender roles in the service of political activism. Finally, there is a mystification of the underlying reasons for economic precarity that is nevertheless based on local histories of exploitation in South Texas.

‘Kant on the Deceitful Art of Rhetoric’

Abstract Kant accuses bad rhetoric of being a deceitful art. In this article, I give an account of both what it means for Kant that bad rhetoric deceives and how this art deceives in the first place. Additionally, I explore significant moral and aesthetic repercussions of bad rhetoric’s being deceitful. The article is structured into Part A and Part B. I start by reconstructing Kant’s technical definition of deception as disagreement between the semblance and the cognition of truth. I go on to argue that bad rhetoric deceives by promising more than it provides. I show that bad rhetoric deceives technically. In Part B, I identify a distinctive trait of deception in bad rhetoric. By exploring this trait, I shed light upon Kant’s moral criticism of bad rhetoric, and I ultimately suggest Kant’s perspective on the appropriate aesthetic response to this art.

Riddles from of Old: The Meaning of History and Israelite Identity in Psalm 78

ABSTRACT While Psalm 78 is commonly interpreted as a didactic history, this label only partially captures the psalm’s function. Utilizing tools from rhetorical criticism and social identity theory, this article argues that the psalm is designed to shape a new community. The identity of this community is rooted in its allegiance to Judah, David, and Zion. The privileging of David is seen as a surprising new development in Israel’s history. The mystery that the poet unravels is how God’s choice of David as a shepherd and guide addresses Israel’s history of inconstancy toward their covenant commitments.

Chasm and net: metaphors in elder-related texts in a Chinese economic newspaper

The current situation of aging in China is unprecedentedly severe. Polices responding to the issues about aging are tracked by the media. This study investigates the living conditions of elders portrayed in a Chinese economic newspaper, the Economic Daily, through a metaphor analysis of 309 news reports pertaining to their living conditions. The analysis is positioned within the framework of rhetorical criticism, which allows the rhetorical motive hidden behind metaphors to be discovered. Three major metaphors—metaphor of net, metaphor of building, and metaphor of chasm are found and analyzed. Most notably, two keywords—“chasm” and “net” are suggested to explain the metaphor choices of journalists and to offer insights into elders’ living conditions in China. This study finds that the chasm encompassing both the invisible gap and the obstacles confronted by Chinese elders calls for the safeguarding of a protective net. However, in the construction of the net, elders’ subjectivity is often compromised and marginalized.

A Narrative Analysis of J. G. Roederer’s The Physics and Psychophysics of Music

This paper conducts narrative analysis for the rhetorical critique of Roederer's <i>The Physics and Psychophysics of Music</i>, a prominent textbook of music science. It is possible to analyze implicit narratives even for texts in non-narrative genres. In science textbooks, implicit narratives can be analyzed in structural, educational, and research contexts. Roederer's satisfies structural coherence by composing a book in a way that deals with the perception of pitch, volume, timbre, and harmony according to the stages of sound generation, transmission, and acceptance in a structural context. In an educational context, a book is composed of content that students may be interested in for a scientific understanding of music to satisfy material coherence, and the validity of narrative fidelity is satisfied through the pursuit of reliable knowledge through experience data and improved observational equipment according to the method of constructing scientific knowledge. From the research context, we can confirmed that characterological coherence is secured by satisfying the truthfulness of narrative fidelity through the update of knowledge throughout the four editions, and by revealing that the knowledge of music science is being built through the activities of major researchers.

The Self-ish Gene: Retroactive Tropes in Richard Dawkins’s Evolutionary Logic

ABSTRACT Building on recent developments in Lacanian rhetorical criticism, this essay demonstrates how contemporary evolutionary theory posits genetic determinism without a clear definition of the gene. It makes this case through close readings of Richard Dawkins’s The Selfish Gene, the landmark text of neo-Darwinian genetics. It demonstrates how Dawkins uses metaphors to substitute a single determinate agent in place of the genome’s essential complexity. Despite Dawkins’s admission that he could not define the gene, his metaphors give his “self-ish gene” a sense of unity and coherence that allows him to describe all other levels of life (organisms, species, ecosystems) as reducible to it. Dawkins’s use of metaphor leverages a broader reductionist logos, one that operates in discourses far beyond the biological. Methodologically, the essay advances the study of scientific metaphor by focusing on the formal properties of metaphor and the ways they afford logical closure.

Socrates on Cookery and Rhetoric

Abstract Socrates believes that living well is primarily an intellectual undertaking: we live well if we think correctly. To intellectualists, one might think, the body and activities related to it are of little interest. Yet Socrates has much to say about food, eating, and cookery. This paper examines Socrates’ criticism of ‘feeding on opson’ (opsophagia) in Xenophon’s Memorabilia and of opson cookery (opsopoiia) in Plato’s Gorgias. I argue that if we consider the specific cultural meaning of eating opson, we can see that Socrates takes a nuanced stance on food and cookery: he recommends careful consumption and skillful production, not austerity or abstinence. This nuance in Socrates’ discussion of food changes our interpretation of Socrates’ criticism of rhetoric in the Gorgias: in comparing rhetoricians to opson chefs – not to pastry chefs, as many have assumed – Socrates evokes the dangers of indulging in speeches while acknowledging their necessity for Athenian public life.

Breaking bridges to the Pied Piper: how Black feminists digitally wreck the legacy of R. Kelly on Ebony.com

ABSTRACT While existing scholarship on R. Kelly primarily focuses on hashtag activism via #MuteRKelly, #FastTailedGirls, and #SurvivingRKelly, this essay considers the role of investigative journalism in documenting decades of R. Kelly’s sexual violence against Black women and girls. Using Gwendolyn Pough’s concept “bringing wreck” and Regina Duthely’s expanded version of “digital wreck,” this study analyzes nine articles published from 2013 to 2015 on ebony.com, the digital version of the Black-oriented magazine Ebony. In response to R. Kelly’s reentry into hip-hop, I argue that Black feminist bloggers as journalists aimed to digitally wreck patriarchy and capitalism through their rhetorical strategies on ebony.com. This project performs an interface analysis of ebony.com in conjunction with a rhetorical critique of these editorial attacks against the artist. It demonstrates how Black feminists engage in radical acts of blame to digitally wreck public sentiments towards abusive celebrities within the space of commodified news organizations. There are three types of digital wrecking practiced by Black feminists on ebony.com: expressing marginality, blaming misogynoir agents and practices, and reimagining Black culture by challenging sexual violence.

Critical Rhetoric Meets Community-Based Participatory Research

ABSTRACT This project responds to a set of methodological challenges for the critical commitments of rhetorical fieldwork and investigates how community-based participatory research (CBPR) methods can help address them. As an example, we draw on Bailey Flynn’s CBPR research with Resilience, a not for-profit “rape crisis center” that provides services and therapy to thousands each year in Illinois. CBPR, like participatory critical rhetoric (PCR) methods, privileges field data as objects of rhetorical analysis. Unlike PCR and other approaches, CBPR methods prioritize the formalization of collaborative relationships with community stakeholders at every stage of research. We argue that greater integration of CBPR methods in rhetorical field methods will aid in privileging the epistemological perspectives of community stakeholders, solidifying critical communication scholarship’s commitment to conducting research with consequences, and providing a common ground for interdisciplinary exchange between critically trained rhetoric scholars and qualitative communication researchers.

On tradition, criticism, and green marketing

Reviewer Frederik Appel Olsen takes issue with the approach we present in The Virtues of Green Marketing: A Constructive Take on Corporate Rhetoric (Palgrave Macmillan). In this response, we point out three aspects where Appel Olsen paints a misleading picture of our book. They concern a) the role of history in contemporary thinking, b) the role of Aristotle in our argumentation, and c) the legitimate place of rhetorical criticism. Thus, our response treats fundamental questions for the field of rhetoric.

No Lives Matter: Resisting Nihilism, Recuperating the Human

ABSTRACT Taking the slogan “no lives matter” as a starting point to diagnose the nihilism of our contemporary political culture, in this essay I tie the rise of nihilism to the resurgence of far-right political movements, chiefly the neo-reactionary thought of Nick Land. Following my discussion of Land and the culture of apocalyptic nihilism, I elucidate a Black feminist and decolonial perspective that, I argue, resists this creeping nihilism, and instead offers avenues of engaged political praxis for recuperating the politics of personhood. Using Sylvia Wynter’s work as an exemplar of such a perspective, I perform a rhetorical criticism of Land’s essay “The Dark Enlightenment” through the lens of Wynter’s understanding of the human. Critiquing his arguments, I argue that Wynter’s work offers a radical alternative to Land’s apocalypticism and antihumanism, one that maintains a commitment to reimagining the human rather than disavowing it.

Visual Exegesis of Herodias and Salome from Feminist Rhetorical Criticism: The Construction of a Myth

The biblical account of Salome has been marked throughout history by two main themes: on the one hand, the princess’s dance in front of the main rulers of Galilee, and on the other hand, the request for the head of John the Baptist to King Herod, instigated by his mother Herodias. The reading of this passage has been strongly marked by the different patriarchal exegetical approaches, which have modulated the reception of both female characters being traceable through the visual and literary arts, to the point of taking on the concept of femme fatale. Really, in both moments Salome is the executor of the actions, not as a result of her capacity for agency, but due to her influenceable character. Through a critical–historical analysis of the biblical passage, Herodias and Salome emerge with characteristics quite different from what 19th-century Art History inherited. The methodology of feminist rhetorical criticism allows for an approach to the visual re-imaginings of this biblical passage that have shaped the iconography of these two figures. The field of visual arts, particularly the production of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, will be the great receptacle for the genesis of the fatality and assimilation of these female biblical figures.

Narrative Storytelling as a Fan Conversion Tool in the Netflix Docuseries Drive to Survive

This paper explores how narrative storytelling converts individuals into sport fans. Data were collected through content analysis of Netflix’s Formula 1: Drive to Survive. Rhetorical criticism was applied to narrative elements identified in this popular docuseries. The conceptual framework drew from existing theories to detail how narrative storytelling effectively engages audiences and facilitates information exchange to achieve sport fandom. Findings show that the main narrative elements used in Drive to Survive were the plot types of adventure, ascension/descension, rivalry, and sacrifice, as well as the character type of hero. These narrative elements fostered sport fan conversion by providing multiple opportunities for information exchange, emotional connection, and inter-fan relationships. Ultimately, this study provides insight into conversion-through-narrative, strengthening the theoretical link between narrative storytelling and sport fandom by examining how narrative elements function in a successful case of sport fan conversion.

Domination criticism and freedom criticism on flood news in online media from a Foucauldian view

This article discusses the issue of flood disaster polemics in online media using McKerrow’s critical rhetorical theory analysis, with the main aim of getting closer to discourse formations that have not been discussed in previous research on political interest contestation. This research uses Fairclough’s critical discourse analysis method to reveal flood news articles from 2019-2021 on Tirto.id. Meanwhile, the Foucauldian perspective in this study is used as a review of McKerrow’s critical rhetoric to analyze power, right and truth. Furthermore, this triangulation is explained in two criticisms, namely, criticism of domination and freedom in the online media Tirto.id in reporting on the flood. This study found that in terms of power, Tirto.id discusses criticism of power as a struggle for power in the social status of the upper and lower middle classes. Dominance tends to appear in social disparities and discrepancies in the effects of development on poor communities and the surrounding ecosystem. In terms of rights, Tirto.id discusses demands for ecological justice for lower middle class society. Finally, in terms of truth, the discourse about flood victims includes the lower classes as a result of land grabbing. This study concludes that criticism of domination shows that the government is not very serious about the concept of ecological justice for all groups. Criticism of freedom shows that Tirto.id expresses satire that floods are only suffered by poor people, not rich people.

Long live the Liver King: right-wing carnivorism and the digital dissemination of primal rhetoric

In this study, we link pertinent concepts from rhetorical studies of the alt-right, animality studies, and conspiracism to explicate the production and dissemination of “carnivore diets” through digital social networks. Taking the ideological and discursive interconnections of animality, hegemonic masculinity, and white nationalism seriously, we conceptualize primal rhetorical networks: a web of influencers and agitators who espouse an ahistorical, carnivorous primal rhetoric concerned with Modern Man's physical and spiritual downfall and his potential for resurrection by consuming nonhuman animals. We utilize a corpus of online texts and social media posts between 2020 and 2023 to perform an ideological rhetorical criticism of two interconnected, online Carnivore Diet gurus: the Liver King and the Raw Egg Nationalist. Drawing upon “conspiritual” tropes and raced/gendered depictions of nonhuman animal consumption, we demonstrate how these networked rhetors “sell” their lifestyles to make a profit and “convert” their followers into an ever-growing network of white nationalist, cisheterosexist, carnivorous ideologues.