Compares the views of Burke and Langer, emphasizing their agreement that the potential of dramatic works to elicit desired responses from audiences lies in the element of formal expressiveness, which in effect defines ideal audiences. (MS)

Adds to scholarship on the role of ideology in Kenneth Burke's texts, and its implications for rhetorical criticism. Argues that, in "Permanence and Change," Burke develops a "metabiological" theory of ideology based upon interrelated concepts of "metabiology,""orientation," and "recalcitrance."…

Describes the nature of the relationship between hermeneutics and rhetoric to clarify rhetoric's epistemic function and, in turn, to provide important theoretical directives for rhetorical criticism. (JMF)

Argues that ascription of meaning should be based on the satisfaction of contextual criteria, following Wittgenstein's concept of meaning as use. Shows how the notion can serve a bridging function between general rules and situated contexts. (MS)

Examines the emergence of social documentary photojournalism in the 1930s and its ideological implications. Examines James Agee and Walker Evans's "Let Us Now Praise Famous Men" as representative of the tensions between individualism and collectivism at the heart of liberal democracy. (SR)

Contributes to scholarship on rhetorical theory by examining the rhetorical aspects of spontaneous shrines that develop on the sites of public tragedies. Compares two contemporary shrines to private mourning rituals of the last century, revealing a common cultural metanarrative that promises continuity and certainty in a time of chaos. (SR)

Discusses J. L. Austin's treatment of perlocution and extends it to an analysis of five types of perlocution. Proposes a set of conditions necessary and sufficient for consummation of any perlocutionary act. (JMF)

Argues that (1) Chaim Perelman's philosophy and the New Rhetoric project reflect his Jewish heritage and Talmudic habits of argument; and (2) because Perelmanian philosophy enacts Jewish and Talmudic thought, the New Rhetoric charts a "third way" between Enlightenment metaphysics and the more extreme expressions of postmodernism,…

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…

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.…

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 that rhetorical criticism has approached the new persuasions and propaganda of 20th century America only with great difficulty, and that a greater understanding of the relationships between the new managerial rhetoric and the old criticism will resolve discrepant critical perspectives on modern social influence. (JAD)

Places (in dialogue form) a discussion of the functions of silence with what purports to be an Eastern attitude, specifically that derived from several Chinese texts. Poses in contrast to the Eastern portion a purportedly Western, didactic discussion. Notes that the ancient question of the relationship of rhetoric and dialectic recurs. (RS)

Finds (1) no clear instances of generic "he" in conversation but (2) that speakers use "they" as an unmarked singular generic pronoun. Finds some possibly-generic uses of "he" situates these within controversies about gender-fair references to women and men and concludes that conversational uses of "he" seem more various and complex (and perhaps…

Contributes to both feminist scholarship and Chinese Studies by coming to grips with the deep, culturally embedded, and politically significant meaning of the names given to Chinese women. Uses the analysis of two names to advance theory that will link and enrich rhetorical, feminist, and intercultural studies and break through the limits of…