Michael Leff

In search of Ariadne's thread: A review of the recent literature on rhetorical theory

Despite its apparent diversity and confusion, the recent literature reflects a consistent attempt to revise the “modern” conception of the relationship between rhetoric and epistemology. Recent scholars stress that rhetoric functions not only to transmit, but also to generate, knowledge. This epistemic view of rhetoric appears in a number of different forms, ranging from a moderate emendation of traditional theory to a radical, neo‐sophistic conception of language and reality. Such “postmodern” approaches challenge many of the metatheoretical assumptions of the discipline, including those that bear on the ethics of rhetoric and on the “subject‐matter” of rhetorical inquiry.

Lincoln at Cooper Union: A rhetorical analysis of the text

Seeking the presidential nomination, Lincoln attempts to ingratiate himself with a Republican audience, and after an extensive attack upon Douglas, he creates a mock debate with the South and appeals for Republican unity. Each section features controlled argument, builds in intensity, and rests upon an association between Republican and the founding fathers, Lincoln using arrangement, argument, and style to associate self and party with the fathers and to dissociate self and party from his chief rivals.

Textual criticism: The legacy of G. P. Mohrmann

During the last decade of his life, G. P. Mohrmann pursued a sophisticated approach to the textual study of rhetorical discourse. His final and unfinished essay on John C. Calhouns “Speech on the Reception of the Abolition Petitions” illustrates the potential and the complexity involved of this project. This essay extends Mohrmanns working premises to indicate three principles: Textual criticism should eventuate in theoretical understanding of texts rather than generate or test autonomous theoretical postulates; the sequencing or timing of elements within texts offers the ground for critical judgment; and certain foundational conceptions, often expressed as root metaphors, frame the discourse and influence its temporal progression.

Lincoln at cooper union: A rationale for neo‐classical criticism

Genre theory can serve as a corrective to certain defects in “neo‐Aristotelian” rhetorical criticism. Analysis of the theory and practice of neo‐Aristotelian critics reveals the lack of adequate standards for rhetorical evaluation. This deficiency is directly correlated with their neglect of the classical conception of oratorical genres. Using our critique of Lincolns Cooper Union Address as an example, we argue that reference to oratorical genres can provide a more precise focus for criticism.

Rhetoric and Dialectic in the Twenty-First Century

The paper presents a historical overview of some characteristic differences between rhetoric and dialectic in the pre-modern tradition. In the light of this historical analysis, some current approaches to dialectic are characterized, with special attention to Ralph Johnsons concept of dialectical tier.

The idea of rhetoric as interpretive practice: A humanist's response to Gaonkar

This response focuses on Gaonkars binary contrast between the productive/performative function of classical rhetoric and the theoretical/interpretative function of contemporary rhetoric. The key to this distinction rests in what Gaonkar calls the “ideology of human agency” implicit in classical rhetoric. A close reading of his essay reveals that, in theory, Gaonkar does not eliminate this “ideology” but merely shifts it from the performer/producer to the interpreter. In practice, however, Gaonkars reading of disciplinary history indicates a more satisfactory position—one that allows a more fluid relationship between production and interpretation.

Piety, Propriety, and Perspective: An Interpretation and Application of Key Terms in Kenneth Burke's "Permanence and Change.".

Pursuing Burkes conceptions of piety and appropriateness, this essay argues for propriety as the master term of rhetorical completion, assimilating style and argument to a common goal, holding discourse together as it extends that discourse into the world. A case study suggests that even a radical text might be self‐justifying by creating its own sense of decorum.

Lincoln at Cooper Union: Neo‐classical criticism revisited

T~T\ HIS OCCASION MARKS the fourth time that Western has sponsored a JL report on the state of the art in rhetorical criticism. The first of these symposia was published in 1957 and subsequently reprinted in book form. The last three, including this one, have occurred at ten year intervals since 1980, and I have participated in each of them. So I thought that a retrospective might be appropriate. But so much has changed over past two decades that I found it difficult to imagine how I could survey the field in a single, short essay, and, in any event, I have come to place more faith in the study of cases than in programmatic efforts. Rather than attempt to cover the general ground, therefore, I want to return to the past and reconsider an older paper—the paper that Jerry Mohrmann and I wrote about Lincolns Cooper Union Address more than twenty-five years ago.

RHETORICAL DISCIPLINES AND RHETORICAL DISCIPLINARITY: A RESPONSE TO MAILLOUX

Abstract In his essay “Disciplinary Identities: On the Rhetorical Paths between English and Communication Studies,”; Steven Mailloux laments the separation between rhetoricians in English and Communication and issues a call for them to join a multi‐disciplinary coalition. Mailloux tries to connect the two by studying their disciplinary histories, and I respond to his account of developments in Communication. While his history of the discipline seems flawed in detail, I argue that his main point holds true and is a matter of considerable importance: Communication‐rhetoricians generally have adhered to a scientific rather than a “rhetorical, hermenemic”; conception of disciplinarity, and this commitment has hampered their ability to enter into interdisciplinary endeavors. But there is also another significant difference between rhetoricians in the two disciplines. Communication rhetoricians, for a variety of reasons, have a weaker sense of internal disciplinarity, and I argue that an unstable disciplinary self‐conception results in a confusion between disciplinary rhetoric located at a particular academic site and the global rhetoric of disciplinarity. Dealingwith this problem presents a major problem for Communication‐rhetoricians and for those who seek to establish effective interdisciplinary ties between English and Communication.

Commonplaces and argumentation in Cicero and Quintilian

Despite the contemporary revival of interest in topical invention among rhetoricians and informal logicians, the ‘commonplaces’ (loci communes) of classical rhetoric have received little attention. When considered at all, they are typically dismissed as sterile or mechanistic substitutes for genuine argumentative invention. A fresh examination of the texts of Cicero and Quintilian, however, suggests that these authors believe that the commonplaces have an important heuristic function, and an effort to understand this function is a matter of interest to contemporary students of argumentation.