Rhetoric (Languages and Linguistics)

Plain Speaking : Judging an Oratory Contest

by Thorold (Thor) May

Although first published in 1989, this paper retains relevance, especially for the "speech competitions" which are run (usually poorly) in countries where English is taught as a second language.

Abstract: This paper attempts to explain the criteria which judges are likely to apply in the Fiji National Oratory... more Abstract: This paper attempts to explain the criteria which judges are likely to apply in the Fiji National Oratory Contest. It comments upon some features of the 1989 contest, and suggests factors which may have underlain the performance of contestants. However, the analysis is not merely local to an historical time or place. Oratory contests are a special case of the “speaking competitions” which are widespread in countries where English is learned as a second language. The cultural beliefs and traditions which come into play in public speaking are especially important in cross-cultural situations. The solutions discussed here have universal relevance for speakers and judges.

Review of L. Battezzato, Linguistica e retorica della tragedia greca (Roma 2008)

by Enrico Magnelli

“Prometheus” 36, 2010, 185-187

Dismantling the antiracist “hate speech” agenda in Hungary: An ethno-rhetorical analysis

by David Boromisza-Habashi

Boromisza-Habashi, D. (2011). Dismantling the antiracist “hate speech” agenda in Hungary: An ethno-rhetorical analysis. Text & Talk, 31, 1-19. doi:10.1515/TEXT.2011.001

In the context of Hungarian political discourse, critics of contemporary antiracist advocacy argue that the antiracist... more In the context of Hungarian political discourse, critics of contemporary antiracist advocacy argue that the antiracist “hate speech” agenda is motivated by carefully concealed political interests that pose a danger to the integrity of Hungarian society. The aim of the present article is twofold: to capture the themes and rhetorical strategies emerging from discursive challenges to the “hate speech” agenda, and to identify the cultural foundations of that rhetoric. The article identifies four themes in critical responses to the “hate speech” agenda: (i) the “hate speech” agenda is founded on the deliberate corruption of the Hungarian language; (ii) the “hate speech” agenda reveals that antiracists are pursuing an alien political utopia; (iii) the “hate speech” agenda is fraught with ideological inconsistency; and (iv) antiracist proponents of the “hate speech” agenda are themselves filled with hatred. Discursive manifestations of the four themes are analyzed for a shared cultural model of sociation and argumentative strategies. The article ends with a discussion of how findings may inform antiracist activism.

Discourse beyond language: Cultural rhetoric, revelatory insight, and nature

by David Boromisza-Habashi

Carbaugh, D. & Boromisza-Habashi, D. (2011). Discourse beyond language: Cultural rhetoric, revelatory insight, and nature. In C. Meyer & F. Girke (Eds.), The rhetorical emergence of culture (pp. 101-118). Oxford, New York: Berghahn Books.

Pour Protagoras: Angenot et le sens du social. Dialogues de sourds. Traité de rhétorique antilogique de Marc Angenot. Mille et une nuits, 450 p. Dialogues de sourds. …

by Yan Hamel

[2011] Asymmetric Labeling of Terrorist Violence as a Matter of Statecraft Propaganda: Or, Why the United States Does Not Feel the Need to Explain the Assassination of …

by Michael Loadenthal

published in "Anarchist Developments in Cultural Studies," special topics issue, "Ten Years After 9/11: An Anarchist Evaluation"

“Terrorism” is fundamentally the same, whether it is carried out by States or non-State actors. Difference arises as... more “Terrorism” is fundamentally the same, whether it is carried out by States or non-State actors. Difference arises as one identifies the processes wherein labels are applied which identify select acts of political violence as "terrorism," while terming others "legitimate defense" within the national interest. The subjective labeling of “terrorism” which obscures the systemic violence of State terrorism has accelerated in the post-9/11 "Global War On Terror/Terrorism," as wars advanced by the US and its allies have further expanded into the Middle East, Asia and Africa with numerous proxy wars. This construction of terrorism can be seen as a rhetorical tool utilized by the State, as well as non-State actors that challenge State authority. Throughout these arenas of violence, authoritative language is used by the State within a process of “othering,” and intentional language is adopted to demonize anti-State opponents and legitimize State-crafted actions

L'ambiguità di Zeno. Coerenza, struttura delle intenzioni e cooperazione interpretativa nella "Storia del mio matrimonio",

by Giulio Savelli

in "Comunità", XLIII, 191/192, pp. 457-515.

See http://www.giuliosavelli.eu/index.htm#Svevo See http://www.giuliosavelli.eu/index.htm#Svevo

Evoking Peace and Arguing Harmony

by Felix Girke

• “De la Historia literaria de España al Teatro histórico, jurídico y político de Cuba. Modernidad historiográfica y sujetividad ilustrada en dos archivos transatlánticos” (“From Historia literaria de España to Teatro histórico, jurídico y político de Cuba: Historiographical Modernity and Enlightenment Subjectivity in Two Transatlantic Archives”) (essay), La literatura ciencia cierta, eds. Leopoldo Bernucci and Tamara Williams. Juan de la Cuesta, 2010.

by Ruth Hill

Rhetoric and ideology: An analysis of interaction among epistemology, praxis, and power

by Mark Gring

Towards a Poetics of Contemporary Public Language: the poetic formula in focus

by Tom Clark

The Cup of John Howard's Poetry: a brief rhetorispective

by Tom Clark

Genre as Social Action

by Carolyn R. Miller

Quarterly Journal of Speech 70:2 (1984): 151–167.
Attached copy includes author corrections.

Rhetorical Community: The Cultural Basis of Genre

by Carolyn R. Miller

In Genre and the New Rhetoric, edited by A. Freedman and P. Medway. London: Taylor and Francis: 67–78.

The Clarity Imperative

by Miranda Hale

Rhetoricians and writing instructors who disparage clarity and science are strongly encouraging their readers and... more Rhetoricians and writing instructors who disparage clarity and science are strongly encouraging their readers and students to see clear and understandable writing as both unsophisticated and suspect, and to perceive objective and quantitative research methods as ideologically motivated. Unfortunately, those who encourage these attitudes have been quite successful, and, as a consequence, have made it more difficult for science communicators to effectively increase the public understanding of science. Similarly, those writing instructors who prioritize their personal ideologies over clear communication deprive their students of the opportunity to appreciate and produce clear writing. This deprivation is grossly unfair to students. It is imperative that, as rhetoricians and writing instructors, we help our students to understand and appreciate the value of clarity and to replicate it in their own writing.

Focalisation et rhétorique dans le discours des journalistes sportifs anglais/français

by Romain Vanoudheusden

Hanote S. & Cappeau P. (dirs.), Focalisation, Presses Universitaires
de Rennes (forthcoming, 2012)

This article aims to show the specific use of focalized syntactic structures in sports news articles published in... more This article aims to show the specific use of focalized syntactic structures in sports news articles published in French and English newspapers. We introduce this particular textual genre by presenting the main stylistic conventions imposed upon sports journalists. We then present different stylistic choices that trigger changes in the syntactic structure of sentences: the passive voice, the fronting of negative structures and the use of cleft sentences. In sports news discourse, these three are rhetorical means which are used to emphasize those parts of the sentence that are already modalized. This sort of intensification, which is the product of stylistic double emphases, is recurrent in both languages.

"Nos ex Rhetorica quaedam concionum genera mutuatos esse". "Genera causarum y condicionandi genera" en el XVI español

by Manuel López-Muñoz

Latomus: revue d'études latines, ISSN 0023-8856, Vol. 59, Nº. 1, 2000, pags. 129-146

Quintiliano, Agustín y Fray Luis de Granada ante la doctrina de la alegoría

by Manuel López-Muñoz

Florentia iliberritana: Revista de estudios de antigüedad clásica, ISSN 1131-8848, Nº 3, 1992, pags. 333-354

The author analizes the historical development of the rhetorical theories concerning allegory, either as a production... more The author analizes the historical development of the rhetorical theories concerning allegory, either as a production facility given to the artifex during the elocuno or as an exegetic principle for the theologian. The allegoria then becomes a two-faced reality, often studied from the point of view of the sender of the message or from the one of the receiver, but not from both. As a preliminary basis for ulterior discussions, the author compares the theories formulated by Quintilian -this is, the rhetorical approach from the domain of the sender-, Saint Augustine -theorist of the decodification of the message contained in the Holy Bible- and fray Luis de Granada, who shares both approaches to the theory of allegory and includes them in different books of his Ecclesiasticae Rhetoricae siue de ranone concionandi libri, probably one of the most influential Renaissance catholic treatises on preaching.

Antecedentes de las máximas conversacionales en la retórica antigua

by Manuel López-Muñoz

Co-authored with: Ventura Salazar García

Estudios de lingüística general : actas del II Simposio de Historiografía Lingüística : (Córdoba, 18-20 de marzo de 1997) / coord. por Feliciano Delgado León, Francisco Osuna García, María Luisa Calero Vaquera, 1998, ISBN 84-7801-453-5, pags. 315-326

Pervivencia de la retórica de fray Luis de Granada

by Manuel López-Muñoz

Humanismo y pervivencia del mundo clásico : Homenaje al profesor Luis Gil / coord. por José María Maestre Maestre, Luis Charlo Brea, Joaquín Pascual Barea, 1997, ISBN 84-7786-422-5, pags. 787-794