Rhetorical Framework Research Articles

Integration: Word and Concept in Discussions of Party Leaders of European Member States of Council for Mutual Economic Assistance

The article deals with the process of formation of the terminological framework of socialist rhetoric. The study is based on the materials of the Meetings of the Central Committee of the Communist and Worker’s Parties Secretaries and the heads of the member countries of the Council for Mutual Economic Assistance government in the period from 1956 to 1969, the program documents of this organization. Particular attention is paid to the analysis of the evolution of the categorical framework, which was used in the description of cooperation between countries. It is noted that in the mid-1950s, at the beginning of the formation of the Council for Mutual Economic Assistance and the language for describing its activities, the term integration was stigmatized, as it was associated with economic processes in Western Europe. It is clarified that at the same time, descriptive constructions were actively used, revealing the essence of integration in the countries of the socialist camp, and there were also frequent cases of the use of the term in official speeches by party leaders. The author comes to the conclusion that since the late 1960s — early 1970s the term socialist integration began to be actively used to construct the image of a socialist economic system as an effective analogue of the European Economic Community, while this concept had an important symbolic meaning and was an element of ritual socialist discourse.

Should We Give All We Have to Live On? A Theological Proposal for the Ethics of Generosity

Recent ethical literature has called attention to subtle yet profound difficulties in determining what types of generosity are moral, and what situations call for generosity. This article contributes to this discussion by advancing a perspective drawn from Christian theology, according to which philanthropic endeavours must follow a downwards trajectory, modelled on God’s self‐donation. Once this model is understood, potentially problematic rhetorical frameworks of generosity—such as that of Anselm of Canterbury—can be identified. This article further argues that the downwards trajectory of generosity has important implications for institutions that use philanthropic rhetoric in their fundraising, as well as for philosophers seeking to establish conditions for ethical generosity.

The War on Terror beyond the barrel of a gun: The procedural rhetorics of the boardgame Labyrinth

Utilizing Bogost’s procedural rhetoric framework in his book Persuasive Games, this article examines Labyrinth, a boardgame that simulates the conflict between the United States and global terrorism. The authors systematically integrate ludology (rules/gameplay) and narratology (narratives/representations) to illustrate how Labyrinth was intentionally designed so that players became active participants in a narrative about how good governance undermines the sources of terrorism and the counterproductive nature of militarized counterterrorism, as well as bear witness to the agency of the Muslim world and the region’s political dynamism on the tabletop. This is a very different account of the War on Terror than has previously been studied in the literature, which has focused overwhelmingly on first-person shooter videogames and, in turn, has provided a very limited range of how this conflict can be represented in ludic form. However, Labyrinth is not alone, and the wargames that many players grew up with have given way to a variety of boardgames which approach complex historical or contemporary situations and environments beyond simply killing one’s enemies. This represents a diverse, but largely untapped, resource already in the public space and ready to be investigated. Media studies can therefore benefit from considering how boardgames similar to Labyrinth present alternative ways in which the ‘real world’ has been, and indeed can be, translated through popular culture objects.

Art Advocacy: Applying a Public Memory Rhetorical Framework to Health Crisis Communication

ABSTRACT Health campaigns and public health messaging strategies often rely on text-based efforts to communicate with audiences. As research grows in the areas of health and visual media, this essay puts a rhetorical framework of public memory in conversation with health campaign communication to show possibilities for audiences who are less likely to be moved by traditional institutional health narratives. The artifact for analysis is an art installation by Domenic Esposito, who in 2018 designed and placed a large scale “Opioid Spoon” at the headquarters of Purdue Pharma in Stamford, Connecticut. After situating public art as an effective way to advance health crisis messaging, we then preview the next phase of this research project that analyzes COVID-19 art as a counterpublic health narrative. We conclude by suggesting future health communication scholarship engage with the intersections of public health art, memory, and advocacy in order to reflect more accurately how communities experience health inequity.

Online activism and redress for institutional child abuse: function and rhetoric in survivor advocacy group tweets

In Australia, survivor advocacy groups have been closely engaged with the emergence and development of policy and redress responses to institutional child abuse. Their activities and influence in this respect have been under-researched. This study focuses on the use of Twitter, a tool increasingly employed by activist groups in their lobbying repertoires. Using content and thematic analysis, tweets of 15 non-survivor led advocacy groups, and one survivor-led organisation—Care Leavers Australasia Network (CLAN)—referring to ‘redress’ were analysed for rhetorical content (via Aristotle’s traditional framework of ethos, pathos, and logos) and communication purposes using three broad functional areas defined by Lovejoy and Saxton (2012). In keeping with Lovejoy and Saxton’s (2012) framework, the results found that for both non-survivor led advocacy groups and CLAN the primary function of their use of Twitter was to convey information to audiences. However, the integrated use of the rhetoric framework with the function framework revealed markedly different lobbying styles between the non-survivor led advocacy groups and CLAN with the latter pursuing a more confrontational and direct style of lobbying in communications. CLAN also overwhelmingly pursued emotion-focussed rhetoric in lobbying communications.

Defining the racial and ethnic “other”: Constructing an American identity through visualizing census data in the U.S. Statistical Atlases

This study analyzes the visualization of census data in the U.S. Statistical Atlases from 1874 to 1925. I examine how visual strategies were used to construct an American identity by contrasting the “native” population with the “other”—new immigrants and African Americans, which were visualized as undesirable counterparts. By defining the “other,” the Atlases created a pan ethnic identity of the “native white” population, established a racial hierarchy, and hardened the division between old and new immigrants. The study develops a rhetorical framework for understanding how data design is used to marginalize racially and ethnically minority groups.

Green Criminology and Rhetoric of Public Opinion: Online Commenting on Gas Rigs Near Israel's Coast

ABSTRACT This study identifies the key themes in online commenting on news reports about gas rig placements near Israel’s coastline. We employed an inductive thematic analysis to study 1276 comments and three main themes emerged from the analysis: (a) views on protesting against the rigs; (b) criminal labels; and (c) dangers of nearshore rigs. Although the majority of the comments supported the protest against the rigs, there was no consensus. The commenters who supported the protest described the acts that lead to environmental harm as criminal, deviant and corrupt. They also criticized the Israeli government and considered capital-government relations as the driving mechanism to place the rigs near the coast. The discussion addresses the meanings of the themes in the context of green cultural criminology, rhetorical strategies, including politics of definitions and causes, the rhetoric of rectitude and rationality, domain statements, and Aristotle’s rhetoric framework (logos, pathos, and ethos).

A logical development: biomedicine’s fingerprints are on the instrument of close reading in Charonian Narrative Medicine

Narrative Medicine as originated by Rita Charon began as an attempt to redress the unopposed biomedicalisation of the medical profession. Although the movement has been self-positioned as a corrective to...

Cartesianism, argumentation, values in the context of Chaïm Perelman’s «New Rhetoric»

The article deals with the process of founding and further development of the new rhetoric, a theory of argumentation developed by the Belgian philosopher Chaïm Perelman (1912-1984) and his co-worker Lucie Olbrechts-Tyteca (1899-1987). The intellectual and philosophical backgrounds of the authors and some key characteristics of their theoretical approaches are described. The new rhetoric: (а) is primarily concerned with argument or practical reasoning, (b) suggests that figures of speech may be arguments instead of merely ornaments, (c) with its goal to influence minds, new rhetoric is a dynamic field of study, (d) it is complimentary rather than in opposition to formal reasoning. According to Perelman, the theory of argumentation conceived as a new rhetoric or dialectic, covers the whole range of discourse that aims at persuasion and conviction, whatever the audience addressed and whatever the subject matter. Perelman presents his new rhetoric as a much better form of logic than Cartesian deductive, stringent reasoning, at least where law and other values-based systems are concerned. Perelman challenged the unwholesome assumption that what we cannot know with mathematical certainly is necessarily arbitrary, irrational, and subjective. Perelman recognized "reasoned conviction" as a bridge to knowledge, although he was aware that it was a less perfect source of cognition than verified certainty. It is explained how the idea of developing the new rhetoric was born out of dissatisfaction with logical positivism or neopositivism (The Vienna Circle’s theories and ideas) and which classical and modern sources inspired the authors in developing a specific logic of value judgments that could deal with argumentation about actions, choices, decisions and without dismissing such argumentation as irrational. The rhetorical framework of the theory is expounded and an overview is provided of the key notions and concepts of Perelman’s ‘new rhetoric’ – the notions of adherence, audience (particular and universal audience), persuasion are explained. According to Perelman, the new rhetoric is based on the idea that since argumentation aims at securing the adherence of those to whom it is addressed, it is, in its entirety, relative to the audience to be influenced. Рerelman's position on the difference between formal logic and argumentation is analyzed.

Identifying community values related to heat: recommendations for forecast and health risk communication

Abstract. Effective communication of heat risk to public audiences is critical for promoting behavioral changes that reduce susceptibility to heat-related illness. The U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) National Weather Service (NWS) provides heat-related information to the public using social media platforms such as Facebook. We applied a novel rhetorical framework to evaluate 5 years (2015–2019) of public responses to heat-related Facebook posts from the NWS office in Phoenix (Arizona) to identify “commonplaces” or community norms, beliefs, and values that may present challenges to the effectiveness of heat risk communication. Phoenix is in one of the hottest regions in North America and is the 10th-largest metropolitan area in the U.S. We found the following two key commonplaces: (1) the normalization of heat and (2) heat as a marker of community identity. These commonplaces imply that local audiences may be resistant to behavioral change, but they can also be harnessed in an effort to promote protective action. We also found that public responses to NWS posts declined over the heat season, further suggesting the normalization of heat and highlighting the need to maintain engagement. This work provides a readily generalizable framework for other messengers of high-impact weather events to improve the effectiveness of their communication with receiver audiences.

Pragmastilistic Analysis of Migration Discourse (Based on Speeches by British Politicians)

Introduction. The present study examines the pragmastilistic potential of migration discourse based on the speeches of modern British politicians. The relevance of the chosen topic lies in the acute social specifics of migration discourse and its manipulative component. In today’s world, migration processes have become global and their impact on the development of the host culture is becoming increasingly evident. There is still no established strategy for the integration of migrants into the new society, which creates a conflict environment and determines the hostility of the indigenous population towards migrants. Migration discourse as one of the directions of policy discourse becomes an effective tool for managing public opinion. Various persuasive tactics are incorporated in the speech of politicians using linguistic means, the use of which in the British migration discourse is considered in this article.Methodology and sources. The key tasks of the study are to identify specific discursive tactics, by means of which the persuasive strategy is implemented in the British migration discourse, and to analyze the stylistic techniques used to design the discovered tactics. During the study, pragmastilistic analysis was used, the application of which involves referring to the following methods of linguistic research: the method of continuous sampling, quantitative, descriptive and comparative methods, the method of stylistic analysis, discursive analysis. The material of the study was the speeches of modern British politicians from 2004 to 2021. Results and discussion. The analysis of migration discourse based on the texts of speeches by modern British politicians allows to talk about the stylistic saturation of the material and the main means of expressiveness used in the framework of the discourse under consideration. The main tactic of opponents of free migration is the comparison of “good/bad” migrants, which is actualized using antithesis. As for the lexical stylistic means, the use of the epithet should be specified, which is also a way of actualizing opposition tactics. Thus, this tactic is implemented both at the lexical and syntactic level. Similar tactics are also relevant in the framework of pro-migration rhetoric, namely, when comparing the local elite and the visiting population, which performs all the work necessary for the functioning of society. In most cases the main stylistic technique for tactics actualization is antithesis (or the convergence of antithesis and epithet). Proponents of pro-migration policies also use metaphor (tactics for describing the political process) and syntactic parallelism (tactics for describing the benefits of migration). Finally, the most common tactic inherent in both poles of migration discourse is the tactic of generalization. It consists in equating the speaker with his audience, their “fusion”, and is most often actualized using hyperbola.Conclusion. Migration discourse is characterized by an ideological orientation, which is actualized using certain speech techniques, tactics and strategies. Migration discourse, as a multifaceted entity, can also serve to harmonize social life by facilitating the integration of migrants into the host culture. Migration discourse is a powerful ideological weapon that can be used both to contribute to integration and to incite ethnic hatred. Stylistic tools play a key role in the implementation of a persuasive strategy, which is actively used both in migration and in political discourse in general. The main tactics of the migration discourse of modern British politicians are opposition and generalization, used both in pro- and anti-migration rhetoric.

Smile of the Crescent: Constructing a Future Identity Out of Historical Ambiguity in İstiklal Marşi (with Translation)

Abstract This article analyses identity construction in İstiklal Marşi (“Independence March”), the national anthem of the Republic of Turkey, within the theoretical framework of Eurocentric nation-state rhetoric. It argues that the continuing success of the text, written by Mehmet Akif [Ersoy] in 1921, is independent of the ideological stand of its author, and lies instead in its conveyance of a modern nation-state identity. In order to demonstrate this, the article first depicts the circumstances of the adoption of the national anthem and its immediate reception in Turkey. Afterwards, it examines identity construction in the anthem and reveals that the war against European forces determined the self-perception of the nation by both the negation and mirroring of the other. It concludes that, by foregrounding certain elements such as l’esprit frondeur and faith, and by interpreting the convention of Ottoman Divan poetry, the poet infused the cultural and aesthetic legacy of the past into the future needs of a nation-state.

What Sells on the Fake News Market? Examining the Impact of Contextualized Rhetorical Features on the Popularity of Fake Tweets

A fake news ecosystem is akin to a marketplace where content generators and users exchange content like sellers and buyers. The popularity of a product in this marketplace is influenced by rhetorical features (ethos, pathos, and logos), topic categories (hard news, soft news, and general news), and design motivations (political intent, fun, etc.). Therefore, the determinants of the popularity of fake news should be contextualized better to understand the spreading patterns. First, we obtained a sample from a fact-checking organization (n=439). Then, we categorized tweets based on their topics and design motivation by using biaxial content analysis. Next, we proposed a rhetorical framework to organize the tweet-related indicators to develop the content’s systematic characterization. Finally, we examined both the primary and interaction effects of topics, design motivations, and organized rhetorical features of tweets on popularity through a negative binomial regression. The main results revealed a positive relationship between logos-related features (i.e., the number of followers) and the popularity of the fake tweets. In addition, an exciting interaction effect indicated that fake tweets designed with political intent are nearly five times less retweeted when they contain hashtags. The research and practical implications and future directions were also discussed.

Money on the Left

Money on the Left Kate Siegfried Money on the Left podcast. Hosted by William Saas, Maxximilian Seijo, and Scott Ferguson. Podcast audio, 2018–2021, https://moneyontheleft.org/podcast/. The Money on the Left podcast explores money as a key tool in the fight for a more just world. Hosted by Scott Ferguson, William Saas, and Maxximilian Seijo, Money on the Left features discussions with humanities scholars, economists, activists, and legal experts to explore topics including debt, money, monetary imperialism, the relationship between art, labor, and money, gender and labor, predatory finance, race and money, and contemporary political struggles. Through such discussions, Money on the Left aims to “reclaim money’s public powers for imaginative intersectional politics.”1 Although discussions hosted by Money on the Left explore a wide range of topics, the primary theoretical framework engaged is modern monetary theory (MMT). As an economic framework that positions money as a public good, MMT offers innovative resources for solving pressing social, political, and economic issues from a perspective rooted in social justice. Given Money on the Left’s robust and dynamic engagement with money, the podcast performs a key tenant animating MMT: that money is an object that requires sustained cultural, economic, and political engagement to understand its role in society as it exists, as well as its potential role in the becoming of a new world. This approach is a departure from that generally taken in neoclassical economics in which money is understood as a neutral technology that merely operates at the beckoning call of other economic forces. From this perspective, money is not understood as an object worthy of focused attention on its own terms because it has nothing unique to reveal about the operation of finance. Rather than taking money for granted as a finite and private resource, those engaged in MMT approach money from a neochartalist perspective in which money is [End Page 131] understood as a tool for public power without any inherent limit.2 In essence, rather than asking if we can afford public goods such as universal health care, a jobs guarantee, universal child care, or a Green New Deal, MMT assumes that affordability is not at issue (and in fact, that to use affordability as the primary rhetorical framework through which to argue over potential implementation is immoral).3 Instead, this shifts the argumentative framework to questions surrounding implementation and how to best address existing public needs. Indeed, in the first episode, the hosts describe MMT as a framework that demonstrates “that money is always and everywhere a boundless public utility, as well as a deliberate cultural, political, and ecological project,” rather than figuring “money as a politically neutral commodity invented a long time ago.”4 It is important to note that such an approach not only demonstrates the social function of money, but also opens new doors for exploring the utility of money in resolving the specific ways austerity and scarcity presently animate public life.5 By positioning money as a public utility, Money on the Left and MMT more broadly raises the fundamental question of who the public is, a conversation that rhetoricians should unboundedly engage as this is also a fundamental line of disciplinary inquiry. As MMT debunks financial assumptions regarding the affordability of public services, the primary questions at hand become who are these services for and how will they be implemented. For example, if universal health care were implemented, would it only be available to citizens of the United States, or would it be available to all people living within the confines of the country? Questions such as this are brought to the foreground as MMT opens new rhetorical frameworks by shifting the argumentative structure from affordability to implementation. As demonstrated by the conversations hosted on Money on the Left, questions of policy implementation, as made possible through the use of money as a public utility, are political at heart and cut to the essence of who counts in a just society. For example, one episode of Money on the Left features a discussion about the music industry with Alex Williams, who is an economist, musician, and the producer of Money on the Left.6 The discussion hinges...

Friedrich Meins, Paradigmatische Geschichte: Wahrheit, Theorie und Methode in den Antiquitates Romanae des Dionysios von Halikarnassos

Meins’s monograph on compositional theory and methodology in Dionysius of Halicarnassus’ Antiquitates Romanae fills a gap in German scholarship, introducing the concepts underlining the rhetorical framework of D.’s history of Rome. As a first work based on a PhD thesis it is sound: the prose is taut and the text is generally well constructed; it zips by as M. introduces readers to developments in Dionysian studies. But for those familiar with D.’s works and secondary literature it is frustrat...

The Constitutive Rhetoric of Late Nationalism: Imagined Communities after the Digital Revolution

ABSTRACT This article responds to the global resurgence of nationalist rhetoric, forgoing prior scholarship’s equation of such rhetoric with demagoguery to instead position nationalism as a form of social organization within shifting rhetorical contexts. Using the framework of constitutive rhetoric, the article shows how material changes in our routine discursive infrastructure impact the ability of people to imagine themselves as composing a unified community. Following the digital revolution, nationalism now reflects its technological basis, a transformation that upends traditional forms of identification and leads to what the author dubs “late nationalism,” a reactionary turn that has exacerbated global crises.

Modern Dystopian Fiction and Political Thought: Narratives of World Politics

Modern Dystopian Fiction and Political Thought: Narratives of World Politics

Remembering the Covenants in Song: An Intertextual Study of the Abrahamic and Mosaic Covenants in Psalm 105

Remembering the Covenants in Song: An Intertextual Study of the Abrahamic and Mosaic Covenants in Psalm 105

The Expiration of Exigence

Lloyd Bitzer’s 1968 article, “The Rhetorical Situation,” reframed scholarship on communication. Prior to this, rhetorical studies primarily looked to content and style of discourse in order to provide an analysis of meaning and value; however, scholars became frustrated with the limited access that this type of framework afforded. The 1960s marked a dramatic shift in dominant rhetorical thinking from modern thought toward a realm of new ideological approaches, including postmodern thought. Environment became a major focus of postmodern communication studies, claiming that the situation, more than the content itself, determines the message. Rhetorical frameworks continue to rely on a modern or postmodern consciousness, despite the emergence of yet another societal shift into an evolved postmodernism, a reaction to the biases inherent in this relativism. Specifically, the evolution of the postmodern mind into an apathetic consciousness leads to an expiration of exigency as Bitzer defined it 50 years ago. This paper argues that current scholarship lacks a complete awareness of these new assumptions and understandings, specifically relating to cultural apathy. This paper will recount the historical context that leads into this modern framework, illustrate the situation, and argue the potential solutions. Ultimately, this paper reveals that much exigency inhabits a devalued position in the now-evolved postmodern mind, and rhetorical theory must renovate its understanding on discourse accordingly through three steps: acknowledgment, updated definitions, and thoughtful discourse.

The media provocateur: A rhetorical framework for studying an emerging persona in journalism

With the proliferation of digital and social media in particular, non-traditional actors are entering journalism based on their personal rhetorical competencies, rather than their formal journalistic credentials. Among such actors are public debaters who establish themselves as professional opinion-makers and media personalities via ‘media provocations’. In this article, we develop a conceptual framework for studying how these media provocateurs emerge as influential personas in journalism. Whereas previous research has provided important insights into how similar non-traditional actors have challenged journalism from a sociological perspective, we adopt a rhetorical perspective on the phenomenon and describe how the provocateurs’ public persona constructions evolve in a sequential, cumulative, and transformative communicative process that cuts across different rhetorical situations in a hybrid media system. The proposed framework points to several future avenues of research into how non-traditional actors, such as media provocateurs, (micro-)bloggers, and social media influencers, may reflect the current state and direction of journalism.