In this brilliant collection, literary scholars, philosophers, and teachers inquire into the connections between antifoundational philosophy and the rhetorical tradition. What happens to literary studies and theory when traditional philosophical foundations are disavowed? What happens to the study of teaching and writing when antifoundationalism is accepted? What strategies for human understanding are possible when the weaknesses of antifoundationalism are identified? This volume offers answers in classic essays by such thinkers as Richard Rorty, Terry Eagleton, and Stanley Fish, and in many new essays never published before. The contributors to this book explore the nexus of antifoundationalism and rhetoric, critique that nexus, and suggest a number of pedagogical and theoretical alternatives. The editors place these statements into a context that is both critical and evaluative, and they provide for voices that dissent from the antifoundational perspective and that connect specific, practical pedagogies to the broader philosophical statements. For those with an interest in rhetoric, philosophy, comparative literature, or the teaching of composition, this book sets forth a wealth of thought-provoking ideas. "I have nothing but praise for this work -- a masterful treatment of the question, What positive intellectual projects are possible within a world that radically questions the existence of philosophical foundations?" -- Steven Mailloux, University of California, Irvine

Rhetoric, Through Everyday Things is the first book-length collection of essays that explore the vibrant materiality of everyday objects in rhetorical theory, practice, and writing. It examines how things such as food, bicycles, and typewriters can influence history and sociality.

This book is designed to introduce readers to the language of contemporary rhetorical studies. The book format is an alphabetized glossary (with appropriate cross listings) of key terms and concepts in contemporary rhetorical studies. An introductory chapter outlines the definitional ambiguities of the central concept of rhetoric itself. The primary emphasis is on the contemporary tradition of rhetorical studies as it has emerged in the discipline of speech communication. Each entry in the glossary ranges in length from a few paragraphs to a short essay of a few pages. Where appropriate, examples are provided to further illustrate the term or concept. Each entry will be accompanied by a list of references and additional readings to direct the reader to other materials of possible interest.

The study of propaganda's uses in modern democracy highlights important theoretical questions about normative rhetorical practices. Edited by Gae Lyn Henderson and M. J. Braun, Propaganda and Rhetoric in Democracy: History, Theory, Analysis advances our understanding of propaganda and rhetoric. Essays focus on historical figures, examining the development of the theory of propaganda during the rise of industrialism and the later changes of a mass-mediated society. Propaganda and Rhetoric in Democracy offers new perspectives on the history of propaganda, explores how it has evolved during the twentieth and twenty-first centuries, and advances a much more nuanced understanding of what it means to call discourse propaganda.

This volume demonstrates the role of contrastive rhetoric in ESL courses, and offers suggestions for using CR toward cultural understanding of rhetorical decisions. For scholars and educators in composition, rhetoric, education, ESL, and related areas.

This is an extraordinarily well-balanced collection of essays focused on varied expressions of African American Rhetoric; it also is a critical antidote to a preoccupation with Western Rhetoric as the arbiter of what counts for effective rhetoric. Rather than impose Western terminology on African and African American rhetoric, the essays in this volume seek to illumine rhetoric from within its own cultural expression, thereby creating an understanding grounded in the culture's values. The consequence is a richly detailed and well-researched set of essays. The contribution of African American rhetoric can no longer be rendered invisible through neglect of its tradition. The essays in this volume neither seek to displace Western Rhetoric, nor function as an uncritical paen to Afrocentricity and Africology. This volume is both timely and essential; timely in advancing a better understanding of the richly textured history that is expressed through African American discourse, and essential as a counterpoint to the hegemonic influence of Greek and Roman rhetoric as the origin of rhetorical theory and practice. Written in the spirit of a critical rhetoric, this collection eschews traditional focus on public address and instead offers a rich array of texts, in musical and other forms, that address publics.

"Ballif questions why the profession wants to retain these beliefs in the face of vociferous arguments from "new rhetorics" that the discipline no longer posits a foundational self or truth, and in the face of the poststructuralist critique, which has demonstrated that founding truth is always accomplished by first positing and then negating an "other." As an alternative to this negative and violent rhetorical process, Ballif suggests a turn to sophistry as embodied in the figure of Woman, one with the power to seduce us (literally, to lead astray) from our truth and our demand for it."--BOOK JACKET.

This volume represents current theory and research in rhetoric, across disciplines, and is of interest to scholars and students in rhetoric studies in speech communication, English, and related disciplines.

In this volume on political argumentation, the study of argument takes place within a rhetorical framework. As such, it is a contribution to the study of argumentation-in-context with an explicit rhetorical approach. Rather than focusing on the poor quality of political participation and political understanding by citizens, this volume explores how the study of rhetoric, both as an academic discipline and as a political practice, stands in a unique position to critically engage with a ‘contextualized’ understanding of politics and civic engagement. Many contributions in this volume confront classical rhetorical concepts and theories with current political developments such as globalization and multiculturalism and the emergence of new democracies. Others focus explicitly on deliberative rhetoric in the political realm, or undertake a critical analysis of political texts and public events in order to explore what this can imply for the development of a ‘critical’ citizenship.