Places in the heart:The rhetorical force of an open text

1991 ◽  
Vol 55 (4) ◽  
pp. 339-353 ◽  
Author(s):  
Martha Solomon ◽  
Wayne J. McMullen
Keyword(s):  
2015 ◽  
Vol 33 (4) ◽  
pp. 349-376
Author(s):  
Mike Duncan

Current histories of rhetoric neglect the early Christian period (ca. 30–430 CE) in several crucial ways–Augustine is overemphasized and made to serve as a summary of Christian thought rather than an endpoint, the texts of church fathers before 300 CE are neglected or lumped together, and the texts of the New Testament are left unexamined. An alternative outline of early Christian rhetoric is offered, explored through the angles of political self-invention, doctrinal ghostwriting, apologetics, and fractured sermonization. Early Christianity was not a monolithic religion that eventually made peace with classical rhetoric, but as a rhetorical force in its own right, and comprised of more factions early on than just the apostolic church.


2018 ◽  
Vol 49 (3) ◽  
pp. 191-211 ◽  
Author(s):  
Munoda Mararike

The subject of coloniality is a phenomenon of consciousness. It explores belief systems, culture, and ethics using conviction and rhetorical force. Mugabe is good at captivating rhetoric. His sophisticated philosophical conundrum derives from modernity, emancipation as it looks at land as a political and economic structure of decolonization. Thus, in him, the belief of self-consciousness and conviction leads to positive confrontation and violence. Peace is universally known to be a product of protracted violence. Zimbabwe went through a war of colonial genocide and mass massacres in the Second Chimurenga. Mugabe’s decolonial agenda is an epistemological extension of coloniality and neo-colonial struggles originated and revisited by Amilcar Cabral, Frantz Fanon, Walter Rodney, Che Guevara, Fidel Castro, and Samora Machel. Mugabeism thrives on instilling fear into the perpetrators of violence and imperialism by using rhetoric. The doctrine—therefore—reaffirms emancipation and empowerment through postcolonial agrarian revolution rather than “land grabs.” Its magnetic effect is like opposite poles of a magnet—revolutionary versus dictatorship—sharply in contra-distinction with repression, barbarism, and cannibalism. Mugabeism means working toward a common vision of human life for Africans, it means emancipation and freedom. It is a life which is not dependent on an imposed superstructure of oppression of Blacks by Caucasians.


Author(s):  
Mark Goodman ◽  
Stephen Brandon ◽  
Melody Fisher

<p>In 1968 social movements sparked rhetorical discourses which occurred in many nations and on hundreds of colleges and in communities across the United States.  These rhetorical discourses ultimately changed the direction of human events.  Sometimes these points of ideological protests shared views on specific issues, especially demonstrations against the Vietnam War, but each conflict was also its own local conflict.  There is no evidence that any specific group organized the protests, or that speakers motivated demonstrations, or that the rhetoric of one protest caused other protests.  Yet, the protests were not just spontaneous fires that happened to occur in the same year. So, how is it that so many protesters shared the desire for change and shared rhetoric, but each protest was sparked by local issues?  Answering that question provides insight into how the rhetoric of social movements occurred in 1968. </p><p>               Many scholars call for the study of the social movements of the 1960s.  Jensen (1996) argues, “The events of the 1960s dramatically increased the interest in studying social movements and forced rhetorical scholars to reconsider their methods for studying public discourse” (p. 28). To Lucas (2006), “Words became weapons in the cultural conflict that divided America” (x). Schippa (2001) wrote, “Many accounts identify the 1960s as a turning point. For better or for worse, there was a confluence of changing rhetorical practices, expanding rhetorical theories, and opportunities for rhetorical criticism. The cultural clashes of the 1960s were felt perhaps most acutely on college campuses. The sufficiency of deliberative argument and public address can be said to have been called into question, whether one was an antiwar activist who hated LBJ's war in Vietnam or a pro-establishment stalwart trying to make sense of the rhetoric of protest and demonstration. Years later, scholars would characterize war itself as rhetorical. What counted as rhetorical practice was up for grabs”(p. 261).</p>               First, this paper will frame the protest movement of 1968.  Then, we will search for the common factors that shaped the protests of 1968, focusing on the role of music. This analysis will provide insight into how music became a rhetorical force in a significant social movement of the 20th Century.


2018 ◽  
Vol 69 (1) ◽  
pp. 9-18
Author(s):  
Olugbemiro O. Berekiah

The key themes of sanctification and regeneration in Ezek 36.25-27 make it an important and well-known passage among theologians and exegetes. However, the translation of מים טהורים in v. 25 as “clean water” in most English versions obscures the rhetorical force of the allusion to certain liturgical practices within the religious context of the source language. This paper considers the semantic connotations of מים טהורים by trying to understand the author’s rhetorical intentions. Historical-liturgical criticism is used to examine the religious context of the source text with a view to suggesting the most accurate English translation of this technical term which would convey its closest range of meanings to a contemporary English-speaking audience.


2013 ◽  
Vol 55 (3) ◽  
pp. 252-271
Author(s):  
Benjamin A. Edsall

Abstract The force of the question “do you not know?” is often taken for granted in contemporary scholarship on 1 Corinthians. However, the rhetorical force of the question is closely linked with its referential value, neither of which is straightforward in every case. This article begins by surveying the use of the “do you not know?” question in 1 Corinthians, noting indications that the Corinthians may not in fact know what Paul is asking. Following that is a survey of the use of “do you not know?” in Greek sources ranging from the 5th century bce to the 4th century ce. It is demonstrated that the relationship between the question “do you not know?” and the audience’s actual knowledge is not invariable; the speaker may use the question to draw on actual knowledge or to introduce elements into the discussion that the interlocutor genuinely did not know. After this survey, some conclusions are drawn with relation to Paul’s use of “do you not know?” in 1 Corinthians.


2009 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 28-51 ◽  
Author(s):  
Benjamin R. Bates

This essay offers an analysis of the circulation of World War II and Holocaust analogies in discourses about American military involvement in Kosovo. The essay argues that the World War II/Holocaust analogy provided the public with a new vocabulary for understanding the situation in Kosovo. The essay uses Bill Clinton’s speeches about Kosovo during the first week of American intervention as a representative anecdote for discussing the analogy and its rhetorical force. The essay then probes the circulation of the analogy in other governmental, media, and public opinion outlets. By comparing Kosovo 1999 to Europe 1945, the analogy offers descriptive and prescriptive reasons for American involvement that encourage public approval of military intervention. The essay offers conclusions and implications of this analysis for the understanding of the relationships among rhetoric, public opinion, and international conflict.


MANUSYA ◽  
2009 ◽  
Vol 12 (3) ◽  
pp. 45-57
Author(s):  
Somsonge Burusphat ◽  
Qin Xiaohang

This paper describes idioms of the northern Zhuang language. Zhuang idioms are analyzed into two major types, based on syntactic structure: trisyllabic idioms and polysyllabic idioms. Tri-syllabic idioms are short, fixed common expressions consisting of a single predicate. The polysyllabic idioms comprise tetrasyllabic idioms, pentasyllabic idioms, hexasyllabic idioms, and heptasyllabic idioms. The polysyllabic idioms display four syntactic patterns, i.e., serial pattern, causative pattern, topicalized pattern, and condensed pattern. Semantically, the meanings of Zhuang idioms are not the sum of their component part but must be metaphorically interpreted as a whole. The function of Zhuang idioms is to increase effectiveness and rhetorical force in oral and literary communication.


2020 ◽  
pp. 171-195
Author(s):  
Michael D. McNally

This chapter considers efforts to legislate Native American religious freedom in the American Indian Religious Freedom Act (AIRFA, 1978). Where courts and even common sense have seen AIRFA as a religious freedom statute—as an extension of the legal protections of the First Amendment into the distinctive terrain of Native American traditions—the chapter suggests a different view. If the legal force of “religious freedom” discourse has been only dimly effective for Native sacred claims in courts, this chapter is the one that most pointedly shows how Native peoples drew on the rhetorical power of the sacred and religious freedom to win significant legislative protections specific to Native peoples. It does so through interviews with Suzan Shown Harjo. These interviews show how the remarkable legislative accomplishment of AIRFA and, later, the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (1990), carry the rhetorical force of religious freedom into the legal shape of federal Indian law, with its recognition of treaty-based collective rights and the United States' nation-to-nation relationship with Native peoples.


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