Doing Rhetorical History: Concepts and Cases (Studies in Rhetoric and Communication)

This collection argues that rhetorical history, both as a methodologyand as a perspective, offers insights that are central to the study ofcommunication and unavailable through other approaches.The current field of communication derives from the historical studyof rhetoric. Over the last few decades, however, as the trend toward theoreticalconceptions has driven analysis and as a host of "isms" has definedcriticism, communication studies have moved away from a predominantly historicalperspective.Yet many scholars in the field continue to find benefits in rhetoricalhistory. In the thirteen essays gathered here, eminent scholars addressthe ongoing dialogue over the regrounding of rhetorical study and the relationshipbetween theory and history as well as history and criticism in the field.Some examine the conceptual issues involved in the juncture of rhetoricand history; others offer case studies, often based on research with primarydocuments, to illustrate the process and promise of rhetorical history.Collectively, their work tests theory and complements criticism while standingas a distinct and valid approach in and of itself.The conceptualizations and methodologies of rhetorical history willincrease in significance during the burgeoning "Communication Age"as we seek to cope with the present and prepare for the future by betterunderstanding the past. This volume serves as an excellent overview ofa recently neglected methodological approach and acts as the first stepin ending that neglect.
Author: Turner, Kathleen J.

Publisher: University Alabama Press

Binding: Paperback

Language: English

ISBN-10: 0817350489

ISBN-13: 9780817350482