Rhetorical Tradition Research Articles

Le style pragmatique et commatique de Porphyre à Simplicius

Abstract In this study, we aim to analyze the notions of “pragmatic” and “commatic” we encounter in what we highlight to be a process of canonization of style appropriate to each content and theological level since Porphyry. This research is divided into three parts: primarily, we investigate the sense in which the Neoplatonists use the adjective “commatic”, which includes on the one hand (1) defining what the Neoplatonists mean by “unity of meaning”, and on the other hand distinguishing between a “woven” and continuous style and a “disjointed” and broken style, collecting the stylistic criticisms made by the Neoplatonists of the ancient texts; then (2) we seek to establish the areas of application of the “commatic” style in Neoplatonic discourse, distinguishing on the one hand inspired and ethical discourse, and on the other hand clear and sharp dialectical discourse, bordering on that which eludes philosophical demonstration, namely, the ἀσάφεια; finally (3), we aim to study the “pragmatic” style associated with each theological content in order to highlight its corresponding style and vocabulary. The present research stems from the need to show how behind the lexical and structural choices of the Neoplatonic writings there is a precise theory of style, produced by a process of aesthetic canonization that emerges clearly as early as Porphyry’s rhetorical fragments and from Neoplatonic exegetical activity on rhetorical works, as well as from an innumerable amount of references to a rhetorical tradition on the period and its parts, the commata and côla, which the Neoplatonists, as this study aims to show, master and apply on their own structuring and formalization of theological content.

Theorizing Reception: Antoinette Brown Blackwell’s Response to Evolutionary Theory

Because nineteenth-century women were generally excluded from evolutionary research, they had limited options for resisting its claims that women were inferior to men. Antoinette Brown Blackwell presented one means of intervening in the influential discourse of evolutionary science in The Sexes Throughout Nature (1875), where she theorized reception as a rhetorical approach particularly suited to women. Although reliance on reception risks reinforcing stereotypes of feminine passivity, Blackwell’s theorization of reception suggests relationships between audience and rhetor that are not well accounted for by the masculine rhetorical tradition and foregrounds reception as an often overlooked but important counterpart to rhetorical production.

Persuasiveness of Language in Climate Change Speeches

This study seeks to discover persuasive strategies used to communicate or address certain issues that are addressed during a speech, specifically climate change speeches. The speeches that were used in this study were recorded videos of Yeb Sano, Barack Obama, and Gina Lopez that were uploaded on the internet. By examining those videos thoroughly, we dissected every part using the framework of analysis by Bitzer (1992) which composes the key elements of classical theoretical tradition including The Five Canons of Rhetoric, Ethos, Pathos, Logos, Figure of speech, and Oratory. After analyzing it using this tool, we concluded that more technicalities come with writing an effective speech. Using all those analysis frameworks and techniques we have discovered that a lot of aspects come into play in creating a persuasive speech. Using the Framework of Analysis by Lloyd F. Bitzer we have delved into the realm where persuasiveness of language that are manifested through the following parameters; first is the classical rhetorical tradition which consists of the five cannons of rhetoric and a few more which are discussed individually in the following chapters below. We also opted to use Colaizzi's method of data analysis to explore the array of different responses of commenters from those recorded videos. Using the thematic patterning of Colaizzi, the following findings were aspects of the effectiveness of speech were highlighted, we found Seven factors that contribute to the effectiveness of a persuasive speech. With the help of the same patterning, we have also discovered four factors that contribute to or make the speech to be ineffective. Now we want this study to be helpful to some individuals who struggle to make their audience immersed or engaged when listening to their speeches.

Przejawy dziedzictwa oralno-retorycznego w zasobach biblizmów języka polskiego

The article inquires into the possibilities of ethno-cultural description of the Biblical heritage in Polish, comprising established linguistic units of multiple genetic and formal status. The proposal is put forward to include, in this kind of linguistic reflection, theoretical assumptions and descriptive methods hitherto scarcely used in Polish research, deriving from Hellenistic and Semitic oral and rhetorical tradition. The article consists of two parts. The first part outlines previous approaches to describing conventionalized units of language, both in the context of Polish and contrastive analysis. It also concerns the categories of orality and rhetoric in the contexts of describing the biblical linguistic heritage, as well as the definition of the concept of Biblicism. The second part considers the possibilities of describing selected Polish Biblicisms (merism, hyperbole, and chiasm) through references to the oral and rhetorical Biblical tradition.

Improving Proposal Writing by Looking to Information Operations

This article examines the subject of persuasion in technical and professional communications (TPC) with a specific focus on proposals in U.S. Government contracting. It demonstrates a fundamental disconnect between the intent of proposals, which is to persuade, and the rhetorical traditions and professional boundaries of technical writers. The analysis draws on the existing rhetorical- and genre-based TPC literature and borrows from theory in other disciplines—management, organizational theory, sociology, and psychology among others. To advance the scholarship on proposals, this analysis is framed within the overall context of a structural analogy to U.S. military Information Operations (IO). Through use of analogy, it is suggested that the IO community's approach to the concepts of “influence,” “narrative,” “target audience,” and “unity of effort” may offer useful insight for State and Federal contractors to consider in their efforts to write persuasive proposals. This analysis is then used to develop a research agenda for the study of proposals. Areas for future research include the science of persuasion and the use of narrative as it relates to proposals, improved rigor in the use of target audience research, and organizational constructs to improve collaborative writing in proposals.

Development of Stylistics and Rhetoric in Lithuania

Every concept has its own history and its own prehistory, without which it is impossible to understand both complex and simple phenomena of life, and this article provides a brief overview of the development of rhetoric and stylistics from antiquity to the present day. It focuses on the formation and development of stylistics and rhetoric in Lithuania. Rhetoric, as one of the most important liberal arts, was still taught in Lithuania in the 16th and 18th centuries, together with dialectics and logic, the most famous works being: “Oratoriaus praktika, arba retorikos meno taisyklės” [The Practice of the Orator, or the Rules of the Art of Rhetoric] by Žygimantas Liauksminas, “Poetika” [ Poetics] by Motiejus Kazimieras Sarbievijus, “Apie taisytinas iškalbos ydas. Apie meną gerai mąstyti, būtiną gebėjimui gerai kalbėti” [On the Correctable Faults in Eloquence. On the Art of Good Thinking Necessary for Good Speaking] by Stanislovas Konarskis, “Apie iškalbą ir poeziją” [On eloquence and Poetry] by Pilypas Nerijus Golianskis and others. In Lithuania, works on stylistics in the national language appeared later, only at the end of the 1910s. The first Lithuanian work on stylistics was written in 1918 by Kazys Bizauskas under the title “Raštijos bei literatūros teorija” [Theory of Writing and Literature]. The second author, Motiejus Gustaitis, called his “Stilistika” [Stylistics] (1923) “a textbook for the theory of literature” in its subtitle. Juozas Ambrazevičius gave a similar title to his work “Literatūros teorija. Poetika” [Literary Theory. Poetics] (1930, second edition in 1936). During the Soviet period, quite a number of writers wrote on stylistic issues, including Kazimieras Župerka, Audronė Bitinienė and Juozas Abaravičius. The most extensive and comprehensive “Lietuvių kalbos stilistika” [Stylistics of the Lithuanian Language] by Juozas Pikčilingis was also prepared at that time. After the restoration of independence, rhetoric thrived. In 1999, Regina Koženiauskienė wrote her fundamental work on rhetoric “Retorika: Iškalbos stilistika” [Rhetoric: The Stylistics of Elocution]; “Juridinė lingvistika” [Legal Linguistics] was published in 2005; and, in 2013, “Rhetorical and Stylistic Analysis of Publication Texts” was released. Referring to the revival of rhetoric, it is necessary to mention Irena Buckley, Professor at Vytautas Magnus University. She is the author of the monographs “Retorikos tradicija XIX amžiaus lietuvių literatūroje” [The Rhetorical Tradition in 19th-Century Lithuanian Literature] (2006) and “L’Eden lituanien et la Babylone française: les contacts culturels franco-lituaniens au XIXe siècle” [Lithuanian Eden and French Babylon: Franco-Lithuanian Cultural Contacts in the 19th Century] (co-author with Marie-France de Palacio, 2012). The first monograph presents a clear conception of rhetoric, applying rhetorical analysis principles to 19th-century Lithuanian literature and updating the tradition of rhetorical culture in Lithuania. Teaching of rhetoric adheres to the classical canon rediscovered during the global revival of rhetoric. However, evident changes are occurring, as everything in the world undergoes reevaluation, from social relations and value systems to language. The established understanding within the rhetoric canon is being disrupted, and new rules and traditions are taking shape. These innovations are noted to initially emerge in the USA, then spread to Europe, eventually reaching Lithuania.

Talking about Oneself to Talk about Christ: The Autobiographical Text of Philippians 3:1–4.1 in Light of Ancient Rhetorical Heritage

In this contribution, we will proceed in three steps. First of all, we will investigate the rhetorical approach for studying the Pauline letters, considering different methodological options. In this context, we will propose the approach of the literary rhetoric as the most valid. Secondly, we will analyse the autobiographical text of Philippians 3:1–4:1, starting from its delimitation, textual criticism, and its arrangement, according to oral and discursive models. Then, we will proceed with genre and literary origins; here, we will discover the periautologia as the point of reference of the Pauline autobiography. This eulogy of self is a genre, well known in the rhetorical tradition, to which Plutarch dedicated the treatise On praising oneself. This discovery determines the following exegetical analysis of the text. Thirdly, we will conclude with a reflection about Paul’s way of speaking about himself in this passage. In light of ancient rhetorical heritage, he does not use his autobiography to praise himself but to praise Christ, who completely changed his life. Ultimately, Paul’s talk about himself is a way of talking about Christ for the benefit of the addressees who should creatively imitate the Apostle and his Christian life.

Creating the Ancient Rhetorical Tradition, by Laura Viidebaum

Creating the Ancient Rhetorical Tradition, by Laura Viidebaum

Folk Horror and Witchcraft: Exploring the Rhetoric of Tribal Evil Tradition and Marginalization of Women in Baso-jhi by Sowvendra Sekhar Hansda and Reincarnation of Parasuram by Anil Ghorai

Sowvendra Sekhar Hansda, a writer from Jharkhand and an ethnic member of the Santhal community, and Anil Ghorai, a Bengali writer have come forward with their powerful literary oeuvre to bring to the surface the helpless agonies of marginalized subalterns and Adivasi women and allow them a voice against the oppression and violence. Both the writers possess extraordinary knowledge and firsthand experience of tribal culture, tradition and practices. They were very much conscious about the bleak ground reality of oppression and abashment practiced either by the money-minded bourgeois class in the name of progress or by the rest of the society under casteism. And when this subjugation comes to the women, different layers began to be added. The most exploited and primitive weapon in this regard comes in the version of witchcraft, black magic and sorcery within their segregated society and which is already fighting against so much odds. The present article attempts a critical appraisal of ‘Baso-jhi’ by Sowvendra Sekhar Hansda and ‘Reincarnation of Parasuram’ by Anil Ghorai to bring to the surface the layered patriarchal marginalization of women within their community and the menace that this barbaric practice of witch hunt exercises upon womenfolk and finally the horror that embodies the entire folk existence.

The Ancient Greek Sophists in Emanuele Tesauro’s Il cannocchiale aristotelico (1670): Thrasymachus and Gorgias

Emanuele Tesauro’s Il cannocchiale aristotelico (The Spyglass of Aristotle) is widely considered a masterpiece of the Baroque, mainly because of his theory of metaphor as a cognitive tool. But this work is much more than that. Tesauro presents his volume as the ultimate interpretation of Aristotle’s rhetorical art, which is clearly not the case. Indeed, his work is a polycentric discourse on a revolutionary theory of rhetoric that goes beyond any previous treatise written on the subject, including Aristotle’s Rhetoric. Despite his relevance in the history of rhetorical theories, Tesauro’s work is still waiting for a comprehensive study of its own as well as investigations of some of its specific aspects. Furthermore, the majority of the existing studies of Tesauro are in Italian (with only very few in English), which makes it difficult for this text to reach an international public. This essay explores what seems to be a specific aspect that has so far been almost completely neglected: the role played by the ancient sophists in the Cannocchiale aristotelico and in the history of rhetoric that Tesauro redesigns. Tesauro proclaims his fidelity to Aristotle but actually contradicts Aristotle’s anti-sophistic approach. During this analysis, we will discover even more about Tesauro’s pro-sophistic attitude: he grounds the climax of Latin rhetorical tradition in Greek sophistry. This positive assessment of the ancient sophists, especially Thrasymachus and Gorgias of Leontini, coexists with a critique of Socrates. Except for Sperone Speroni, no other early modern Italian author—or European author—has proposed this radical inversion of the canon established by Plato. This reversal makes Tesauro a relevant case study in the on-going exploration of the legacy of ancient sophists in Western literature.

Translation Research on Conceptual Metaphor in the 2023 Chinese Government Work Report

In traditional rhetoric, metaphor is simply a rhetorical device used to make the mentioned things more understandable. It was not until 1980 that two cognitive linguists, George Lakoff and Mark Johnson (1980) argued in Metaphors We Live By that the essence of metaphor is the cognitive mechanism by which abstract things are explained through concrete things, shifting the study of metaphor from the linguistic level to the cognitive level. Later on, Lakoff (1996) analyzed political metaphor from a cognitive perspective for the first time in Moral Politics, which drives the upsurge of research on conceptual metaphor in political discourse. Political discourse usually uses metaphor to conceptualize the political ideas and issues it aims to disseminate, and the use of conceptual metaphor is closely related to national culture, so the translation of conceptual metaphor has become the key to the overseas publicity of political discourse. On March 5, 2023, Premier Li Keqiang delivered Chinese Government Work Report at the opening meeting of the first session of the 14th National People’s Congress. After reading the official translation on www.china.org.cn, the authors find that the Report contains a wealth of conceptual metaphors, and whether the translation of these metaphors is appropriate or not will affect the accuracy of people’s understanding of the Report. Based on Lakoff and Johnson’s (1980) conceptual metaphor theory and Group’s (2007) metaphor identification procedure, this paper takes the 2023 Chinese Government Work Report and its English translation version on www.china.org.cn as the research corpus. Through manual screening, classification and statistics of conceptual metaphors, this paper explores ten types of conceptual metaphor models, namely human metaphor, journey metaphor, war metaphor, cultural metaphor, architecture metaphor, water metaphor, animal and plant metaphor, machine metaphor, line metaphor as well as object metaphor. Based on Xiao’s (2005) cognitive strategy of metaphor translation, this paper also analyzes the translation of ten types of conceptual metaphors. This paper attempts to explore the following three research questions: (1) What are the types of metaphorical patterns in the Report? (2) How are the conceptual metaphors used in the Report and what cultural connotations and images are conveyed by them? (3) How to effectively translate conceptual metaphors in the Report to achieve a better understanding of the target audience? Microsoft Office (Word and Excel) is used as a statistical tool and a mapping tool to count specific conceptual metaphor categories and record typical metaphor keywords, and visualize the data of the proportion of various types. This paper tries to summarize and analyze the cultural connotations and images conveyed by the conceptual metaphors, so as to provide help for the English translation of Chinese political discourse and promote the international dissemination of Chinese political ideas. Through the analysis of conceptual metaphors, we can judge that although the political concepts in the Report is abstract, conceptual metaphors can express them more concretely and more easily understood by the audience through the mapping from the source domain to the target domain.

Critical Thinking and Conspiracy Theories. Towards Rhetorical Virtues

The rhetorical model that has emerged in recent years calls for a diversification of pedagogical responses to critical thinking and, particularly, to the pedagogical treatment of conspiracy theories. Rhetoric is often defined, by the rhetoricians themselves, as a neutral art of persuasive discourse, sensitive to standards of effectiveness, but independent of truth and morality. However, the sole aim of rhetoric is not to train “skillful persuaders”, without any other consideration, since at the same time it presents itself as a broader education in democratic citizenship. These orators, trained by the rhetorical technique, are never defined, however, insofar as contemporary rhetoricians have gradually abandoned the normative reflection on (good) orators that was once conducted in the rhetorical tradition. Yet conspiratorial discourse, more vividly than other pedagogical objects, implies, by its very designation, norms, and values that isolate it from other categories of discourse deemed more acceptable or less dangerous to democratic life. Faced with this observation, this article proposes a reconceptualization of rhetoric that makes explicit the normative dimension of its educational project. Defined as a discipline – and no longer as a neutral technique – the aim of rhetoric today is to train (good) orators who possess the dispositions to act (well), speak (well) and think (well) in the context of contemporary pluralist democracy and its values. These dispositions could be called, in the vocabulary of virtue ethics, “rhetorical virtues” or “speaker virtues”.

Sonja K. Foss: Invitational Rhetoric as a Feminist Challenge to the Rhetorical Tradition

In this essay, Sonja K. Foss is interviewed by Helene A. Shugart about invitational rhetoric, a form of rhetoric rooted in feminist principles that challenges the classical rhetorical tradition’s focus on persuasion. She begins by describing key events that led to her interest in both rhetoric and feminism and notes the feminist and rhetorical contexts in which invitational rhetoric developed. She explains the key tenets and assumptions of invitational rhetoric and its reception in the communication discipline and provides some real world applications of the theory. She offers another example of a project in which she integrates feminism and rhetoric – her theorizing of two paradigms of change – and concludes by suggesting how she applies in her own life some of the major concepts that emerged from her integration of feminism and rhetoric.

Stuart A. Selber: What is Digital Rhetoric?

The interview conducted with Stuart Selber by Jim Ridolfo in this special issue on “Challenging Rhetorical Traditions” provides an overview of Selber’s innovative and impactful career studying digital rhetoric. From Selber’s award-winning 2004 monograph Multiliteracies for a Digital Age to his newest monograph Institutional Literacies: Engaging Academic IT Contexts for Writing and Communication, we discuss how the literacies and landscapes of digital rhetoric have significantly changed and will continue to change as we wade into an era of increased digital privacy concerns, deep fakes, and Generative AI. Professor Selber’s work is an excellent example of how scholarship in contemporary digital rhetoric is revolutionizing the field of traditional rhetoric and the teaching of literacy, both re–elaborating its basic notions and expanding its future applications.

Nicolaus De Sanctis, Clement IV and the Roman Curia in Search of Identity

This article deals with a less known Latin treatise, called Moral Rhetoric on the Functions of the Members of the Human Body. It is by the Capuan rhetorician Nicolaus de Sanctis, chaplain to several popes, and is dedicated to pope Clement IV (1265–1268). This unusual work has shown that it is perhaps a kind of mirror of Christian society as the Roman Curia wanted it to be, through the difficult times during the wars over the Sicilian succession, in which the Papacy was deeply involved. It is also an important link in the history of medieval organological literature and the rhetorical tradition associated with ars dictaminis cultivated in Southern Italy.

Christopher Tindale: Exploring the Cultural Foundations of Rhetoric and Reason

The interview conducted with Christopher Tindale by Ruth Amossy in this special issue on “Challenging Rhetoric” proposes a survey of Tindale’s innovative work. Developing from Informal Logic to a theory of Rhetorical Argumentation, it eventually leads to an anthropological approach that challenges the Western rhetorical tradition. It assumes that ways of reasoning are culture-dependent and that arguments as reason-giving can take many forms beyond the ones described in the Western tradition. It thus tackles the question of cross-cultural communication in its argumentative dimension. In this framework it presents an “encounter rhetoric” exploring the encounter between people from very different cultures and looking at how a mutual cognitive environment is able, over time, to emerge and allow for argumentation.

Ennodius and the Rhetoric of Roman Identity: Strategies and Traditions in Shaping Roman Identity in the Panegyric for Theoderic the Great, 506 CE

Abstract: Ennodius' panegyric for Theoderic the Great shows the employment of Roman rhetorical tradition and republican-era virtues to legitimise the new Germanic ruler of Italy. After Ennodius' general strategies to depict Theoderic as a Roman are discussed, this paper analyses two specific samples from the speech which show the use of traditional symbols, exempla , and even Ciceronian conceptions of tyranny alongside contemporary views of Romans and barbarians. These strategies were used to shape a version of Theoderic that removed the ruler from his Germanic background and reinterpreted him as a Roman ruler.

Introduction: Challenging Rhetorical Traditions

Introduction: Challenging Rhetorical Traditions

The practice and pragmatics of Scandinavian research in rhetoric. Audience studies in Scandinavian rhetorical scholarship

This paper demonstrates the connections between certain cultural traits of Scandinavia, a scholarly interest in rhetorical practice and the workings of rhetoric, and a recent interest in audience-oriented research methods. Scandinavia is characterised by a tradition of practical rhetoric, egalitarianism, high trust, and low scores on power distance and masculinity in Hofstede’s culture comparison tool. This, I suggest, is reflected in an interest in the everyday pragmatic functions and workings of rhetoric, paving the way for the use of audience research.

Enlightenment Rhetoric Reconsidered: Hume’s Discursive Transcendence in “Of Eloquence”

ABSTRACT The phrase “Enlightenment rhetoric” typically denotes discourses bent on rejecting classical oratorical styles in favor of purportedly scientific ones. Likewise, scholars often associate Enlightenment rhetorical styles with the scientific epistemologies that emerged in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. This article reconsiders Enlightenment rhetoric by analyzing David Hume’s 1742 essay “Of Eloquence.” More specifically, the article argues that the Scottish Enlightenment context necessitated a rhetoric that compensated for the discursive limitations of new scientific worldviews. In so doing, the article argues that Hume verbalizes the transcendent dimension of classical eloquence in ways commensurate with the emphasis on perspicuity emerging in English culture, a rhetorical maneuver that the author calls discursive transcendence. Hume’s “Of Eloquence” thus serves as a case study demonstrating how an Enlightenment writer advanced a rhetoric that both rejects and pulls from prior rhetorical traditions, constituting a new understanding of Enlightenment rhetoric.