Explains sharp inconsistencies in Edmund Burke's rhetorical abilities by exploring two distinct conceptions of rhetoric: rhetoric as an instrument of prudential reason and as an existential means of constituting oneself. Examines Burke's private correspondence to show how this struggle between rhetorical prudence and rhetorical heroism generated…

Applies and tests Foucault's theories about local centers of power and knowledge by rhetorically analyzing a Minnesota Midwifery Study Advisory Group. Illustrates how knowledge may be produced/suppressed and how a rhetor may become empowered by projecting negative traits upon the "other." Demonstrates how some traditional midwives…

Argues that 19th-century "declarative"/"reiterative" rhetoric derives theoretical authorization from the 82nd "Athenaum Fragment" of Friedrich Schlegel. Analyzes content and rhetorical structure of Schlegel's polemical/reiterative rejection of "philosophical and scientific demonstration." Discusses the…

Maintains that the value of both critical theory and textual criticism derives from the extent to which they inform discussable practice and advance understanding of rhetorical communication; and that criticism can contribute to rhetorical theory. (SR)

Addresses the rhetorical functioning of musical form through a study of the interrelationships among musical, poetic, and structural facets of Leonard Bernstein's Third Symphony. Argues that the symphony's appeal rests in its empowering of human agents by enacting a transcendent rebirth achieved through a series of lateral transformations.…

Reads Ernest Wrage's landmark essay "Public Address: A Study in Social and Intellectual History" at the conjuncture of two contemporary problematics: the tension in rhetorical scholarship between "textual criticism" and "critical rhetoric"; and the intersection of rhetorical analysis and contemporary cultural studies.…

Contributes to scholarship on American Studies, Literary Criticism, and Gay Historical Criticism by examining F. O. Matthiessen's "American Renaissance." Argues that criticism of the work misses its homosexual double-consciousness: a resistive form of "passing" labeled "homosexual palimpsest" that manifests itself in…

Analyzes both book and film versions of "The Firm" and "Jurassic Park" to explore the rhetorical textures of incivility that contemporary audiences generally appear to share and enjoy as entertainment but abjure and revile as politics. Notes that these postmodern performances celebrate public absence and flight to the private…

Examines the Reagan administration's crisis rhetoric after the Soviet Union shot down Korean Air Lines Flight 007 in September 1983. Asserts that errors in argumentation strategy undermined the American position, raising doubts about U.S. complicity in the incident, and enabling the Soviet Union to present a plausible explanation for its action.…

Contends that contemporary reading of "topos" is inherently metaphorical, having at its root a "place" metaphor with important ontological overtones. Indicates an imbalance by comparing two ways of interpreting the "place" metaphor, and the consequences for critics. (JK)

Describes the relationship between ideology and rhetorical strategies by tracing Emma Goldman's use of argument by incongruity and embodiment. Argues that these strategies are inherent in anarchist ideology but were ineffective for an American audience. (JK)

Extends G. P. Mohrmann's premise regarding the textual study of rhetorical discourse to indicate that (1) textual criticism should result in theoretical understanding of texts, not in autonomous theories; (2) the sequencing or timing of textual elements offers ground for critical judgment; and (3) foundational conceptions frame discourse and…

Argues for the priority of a "praxical" hermeneutics over both an ontological and a methodological one. Proposes a praxical dimension to the hermeneutic tradition within communication studies by focusing on and expanding Hans-Georg Gadamer's notion of practice. Suggests some new possibilities for the study of communication and mass…

Surveys previous research on the rhetorical nature of parables and presents a revised view of their function as metaphors and examples. (PD)

A discussion of the dramas of the Norwegian novelist-playwright Knut Hamsun YKnutPedersenI (1859-1952). (RD)