The Wisdom Encomium and Its Persuasive Function in the Book of Wisdom

The Book of Wisdom is considered a coherent text characterised by genre syncretism. This article aims to examine the praise of wisdom in the Book of Wisdom for its persuasive functions. The encomium was used in the analysis as a typical genre of epideictic rhetoric. The text of the praise was analysed from the perspective of the features distinguishing this genre and determining its underlying structure. The analysis led to the conclusion that the author used the possibilities of the genre to teach the recipients what wisdom they should seek and to encourage them to take actions to achieve it. The encomium in the Book of Wisdom was subordinated to advisory rhetoric and is an essential element in the work’s structure.

Visual Rhetoric and the Power of Imagery: A Brief Lesson in the Rhetorical Power of Images and the Need for phronesis and krisis in the Teaching of Visual Rhetoric

Since the ancient rhetoricians, humans have awarded imagery, the visual, and the vivid an extraordinary effect on emotions and memory. Such assumptions have led to iconophobia, iconoclasm, and myths about the special power of images. The issue of the power of pictures, however, is more complicated. As all other kinds of rhetorical utterances, the visual can be both powerful and powerless depending on the circumstances. For many pictures, the rhetorical power lies not mainly in their political deliberation, but instead in their nature as demonstrative or epideictic rhetoric: a rhetoric that does not primarily advocate immediate change, but tries to increase adherence to existing view-points, attitudes and values. Even though visual rhetoric may perform a powerful address to those who are already convinced, it does not necessarily hold much power over adversaries and sceptics. This article argues that when teaching visuality and the power of imagery, educators ought to help young pupils – and the citizenry in general – not only to decode visual communication, but also to interpret and evaluate it. The first requires knowledge about rules of visual literacy, the second requires not only critical thinking, but also situational and cultural knowledge, as well as sound judgment.

Epitaphios logos – hybrydyczny gatunek retoryki ateńskiej

Athenian funeral oration (epitaphios logos) belongs to the epideictic rhetoric. But according to Aristotle the topics used in epideictic oratory could be applied in the deliberative kind, after some modification in the matters of language. In this article I consider the means proposed in the narrative part of the composition, which can be used instead of argumentation in epideictic oratory, i.e. amplification, metaphors and actualization (putting things before the eyes, gr. energeia, lat. evidentia). My purpose is to answer the question who was/is the recipient of Athenian funeral oration. In my opinion there are three kinds of primary recipients: the dead soldiers in the battle, the listeners present at the celebration (Athenians and foreigners) and the Idea of Democracy itself. I also try to find the so-called secondary recipient of Athenian funeral oration. I treat Athenian funeral oration as a hybrid genre of Greek rhetoric.

SPEECH ACTS ANALYSIS OF COVID-BASED EPIDEICTIC RHETORIC

The article is devoted to the analysis of speech acts of epideictic rhetoric in terms of pragmalinguistics. The research material encompasses official Covid-based speeches made by the top officials of the country: Boris Johnson, the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, and Donald Trump, the former President of the United States of America. The subject of the study comprises performative utterances of the speakers from the perspective of their illocutionary force. The theoretical and methodological basis for the analysis was the Theory of Speech Acts by J. Austin, as well as the classification of illocutionary acts by J. Searle. The analysis of Covid-based speech acts revealed their representative directive character. We have found out that the use of representatives in these epideictic speeches is due to the global goal of the speakers, that is to quiet the hearers (carrying out perlocutionary effect). It is supposed that stating the inevitability of certain events and their patterns, positive predictions and personal beliefs of people in power make ordinary citizens (hearers) put up with certain restrictions and inconveniences. In the pragmatic aspect, the use of directives (the second frequently used by speakers) is justified by the situational goal – to encourage the hearers to comply with the rules in connection with the introduction of quarantine. We have also concluded that commissives are used twice less frequently compared with the representatives and directives as their usage is primarily connected with the risk for the speaker to make promises and guarantees in quite unpredictable and uncontrolled time. For top officials this also involves reputational losses in case the promises are broken. It should be noted, though, that the use of declaratives in such speeches is very common and relevant as the speakers have appropriate social status and authority for official statements, decrees or decisions of state importance. Thus, the felicity conditions of declarations can be met. According to the research results the lowest frequency of the use of expressives proves the seriousness of the situation where emotionality and uninformativeness are inappropriate.

Expressive potential of prosody in the inaugural rhetoric (on the material of 2021 Joe Biden speech)

The subject of this research is the expressive potential of prosody in the 2021 inaugural speech of Joe Biden. Analysis is conducted on the peculiarities of functionality of such prosodic means as melody, accentuation, pausation, rhythm and other. Assessment is given to their interaction with the widespread stylistic techniques, as well as their role in carrying out the traditional functions for inaugural rhetoric that determine its genre distinctness. The article employs the method of auditory scene analysis of speech of the political, which vividly illustrates the significance of modifications of suprasegmental parameters for conveying the communicative intent of the speech. The scientific novelty lies in studying the expressive capabilities of prosodic means within a specific variety of political discourse – the inaugural speech as a genre of epideictic rhetoric, viewing the implementation of specific functions in the unity of linguistic and extralinguistic factors. Attention is given to the general peculiarities of discursive practice of the inaugural speeches, as well as the context of a specific communicative situation – unprecedented circumstances of delivering speech by the the 46th President of the United States, as well as the personal traits of the speaker. The acquired results demonstrate the expressive potential of prosodic modifications in the oral speech, which can be used in teaching students majoring in philology the principles of text analysis of the political discourse through the prism of prosody, expressive syntax, stylistics, and rhetoric.

The democratic king: The role of ritualized flattery in political discourse

Research has shown that personality cults are a strategy to further political legitimation. They function to secure a leader’s position in the absence of democratic legitimation methods by using excessive flattery towards the leader. Habitual public flattery towards democratic leaders has not received scholarly attention, even though it can provide insight into the danger authoritarian discursive rituals can have on democratic processes. By applying a ritual perspective to a comparative case study analysis, this paper illustrates how political flattery is not just an instrumental means for self-promotion in the political order, but also a manipulative and antidemocratic exploitation of epideictic rhetoric. Furthermore, the implicit requirement for ritualized flattery hinders accountability and deliberative decision-making, and the process of integrating differences of opinion or interest towards a collective and impartial political practice. Leaders who surround themselves with sycophants encourage opinion- and action-conformity to whatever pleases that specific leader.

Rhetoric

This chapter offers an overview of the evidence for the Epicurean views on the technical status and utility of rhetoric. These views are broadly consistent with the School’s recommendation that the wise minimize engagement in most aspects of civic life. Yet Epicurus himself, and later exponents of his philosophy, clearly utilize techniques and figures derived from rhetorical theory and practice, and Lucretius even chose to communicate Epicurean doctrine through rhetorically enhanced poetry. Since the later Epicurean Philodemus represents the fullest and most detailed source of Epicurean reflection on the subject of rhetoric, particular attention is given to his testimony in On Rhetoric and to the question of how his testimony can be reconciled with the broader doxography on Epicurean attitudes to rhetoric. Philodemus maintains that Epicurus and the Founders of the School recognized one type of rhetoric, epideictic or “sophistic” as Philodemus labels it, as technical and useful. The uncoupling of epideictic rhetoric from the discipline of rhetoric more broadly enabled Philodemus to incorporate prose composition into an Epicurean educational program so that the doctrines of Epicureanism could be disseminated effectively and clearly. Lastly, the chapter reflects briefly on the sort of discursive objectives and practices which appear to be endorsed by Epicureans, despite the School’s reservations about rhetoric’s effectiveness in education and civic life.

The contingency of corporate political advocacy: Nike’s ‘dream crazy’ campaign with Colin Kaepernick

An emerging field of research views Corporate Political Advocacy (CPA) as a communication strategy that responds to the challenges of public relations in divided societies. CPA takes a political position in public and, by doing so, appears to deliberately alienate some of its stakeholders. This study challenges the assumption that CPA discards a unifying epideictic rhetoric in favour of agonistic politics. The investigated case is Nike’s Dream Crazy campaign starring American football player Colin Kaepernick, whose protest against race discrimination in the United States sparked a heated public debate. Although the critical analysis of the campaign and responses on Twitter reveal deep political cleavages, Nike is concurrently engaged in unchallenged communication praising the hyper-individualism of a market ideology. The epideictic contingency of Nike’s CPA undermines the social cause ostensibly at the heart of the campaign: the fight against racial discrimination.