Epideictic Rhetoric

Centre for the Study of Communication and Culture Volume 34 (2015) No. 2 IN THIS ISSUE Epideictic Rhetoric Ilon Lauer Western Illinois University A QUARTERLY REVIEW OF COMMUNICATION RESEARCH ISSN: 0144-4646 Communication Research Trends Table of Contents Volume 34 (2015) Number 2 http://cscc.scu.edu Epideictic Rhetoric: Editor’s Introduction . 3 Published four times a year by the Centre for the Study of Epideictic Rhetoric . 4 Communication and Culture (CSCC), sponsored by the California Province of the Society of Jesus. 1. Epideictic’s Classical Origins . 4 Copyright 2015. ISSN 0144-4646 2. Contemporary Epideictic . 8 Editor: Emile McAnany A. Epideictic reasoning . 9 Managing Editor: Paul A. Soukup, S.J. B. Functional pairs . 10 C. New Aristotelian standards . 11 Subscription: D. Epideictic occasions . 12 Annual subscription (Vol. 34) US$50 E. Temporal explorations . 12 F. Epideictic deliberation . 13 Payment by check, MasterCard, Visa or US$ preferred. For payments by MasterCard or Visa, send full account 3. Expansions in Scope and Method of Study . 15 number, expiration date, name on account, and signature. A. Fields of epideictic study . 15 B. Objects of epideictic study . 16 Checks and/or International Money Orders (drawn on USA banks; for non-USA banks, add $10 for handling) 4. Conclusion . 16 should be made payable to Communication Research Trends and sent to the managing editor References . 17 Paul A. Soukup, S.J. Communication Department Book Reviews . 19 Santa Clara University 500 El Camino Real Featured Review: Gaming . 19 Santa Clara, CA 95053 USA Briefly Noted . 38 Transfer by wire: Contact the managing editor. Add $10 for handling. Address all correspondence to the managing editor at the address shown above. Tel: +1-408-554-5498 Fax: +1-408-554-4913 email: [email protected] The Centre for the Study of Communication and Culture (CSCC) is an international service of the Society of Jesus established in 1977 and currently managed by the California Province of the Society of Jesus, P.O. Box 519, Los Gatos, CA 95031-0519. 2— VOLUME 34 (2015) NO. 2 COMMUNICATION RESEARCH TRENDS Epideictic Rhetoric Editor’s Introduction A brief look at the back issues of COMMUNICATION ries of persuasion as well as the other traditions. Within RESEARCH TRENDS (cscc.scu.edu/trends) shows that these more general studies of rhetoric, one strand looks this journal often addresses research topics drawn from at what some had regarded as a loose end in Aristotle’s media studies. However, communication goes far work. In Chapter 3 of Book I of the Rhetoric, Aristotle beyond media studies, despite the consistent attention classifies rhetoric into three types: deliberative, foren- researchers pay to issues such as the effects of the sic, and epideictic. These genres, he says, correspond media on various groups. Without doubt, the most to the kinds of hearers a speaker might encounter. The ancient (and probably the most geographically wide- first, deliberative, addresses the body politic and the spread) of communication studies disciplines focuses decision-makers of the city or state. The second, foren- on the spoken word. sic, addresses the courts. The third, epideictic, remains Rhetoric, the study of speaking or, better accord- more flexible and can address any number of situations ing to Aristotle, of finding the available means of per- and audiences. And so, within epideictic rhetoric stud- suasion, appears in one form or another in almost all ies, subsequent generations of teachers and scholars communication disciplines. In language, rhetoric have wrestled with exactly how to define and charac- examines the kinds of speakers, the kinds of audiences, terize this most general of categories. the kinds of speeches, and the kinds of speaking situa- In this review essay, Professor Ilon Lauer pro- tions. Because it touches on such a characteristically vides a look at the more recent scholarship on epideic- human activity as speaking, people have attended to it tic rhetoric. Some studies re-examine the classical ori- from the times of earliest record keeping and in every gins of epideictic rhetoric; others ask what it might culture. Contemporary students of rhetoric pay atten- mean for a contemporary speaker or audience; finally, tion not only to today’s speaking or modes of expres- still others develop both the scope and the methods for sion, but to their ancient forbears as well. a meaningful approach to epideictic rhetoric. In the West, rhetorical studies began with the ancient Greeks, with Plato, Isocrates, the Sophists, and * * * others, though Aristotle holds the pride of place with his Rhetoric (sometimes called The Art of Rhetoric) Ilon Lauer serves as Associate Professor in the written in the fourth century B.C.E. But this is not the Department of Communication at Western Illinois only ancient approach. Gangal and Hosterman (1982) University. He holds the Ph.D. in Speech Communica- examine the rhetorical tradition of India, arguing that tion from the University of Georgia. In addition to his “many of these ideas pre-date Aristotle by as much as research in classical rhetoric, he also studies argumen- 500 years” (p. 277). Oliver (1961) first called attention tation (visual argument, political argument, and argu- to Chinese rhetoric, pointing the way for a subsequent mentation theory) and well as media and discourse. generation of scholars. More recently, Lu (1998) com- prehensively traces rhetoric in ancient China, from References about the same period as Aristotle’s writings, and Gangal, A., & Hosterman, C. (1982). Towards an examina- tion of the rhetoric of ancient India. Southern Speech Wang (2004) has provided a forum for Asian rhetori- Communication Journal, 47(3), 277–291. cal scholars to share ideas. Lipson and Binkley (2009) Lipson, C. S., & Binkley R. A. (Eds.). (2009). Ancient non- have provided a collection that draws together more Greek rhetorics. Anderson, SC: Parlor Press. recent studies. They collect essays that examine reli- Lu, X. (1998). Rhetoric in ancient China, fifth to third cen- gious rhetoric in the ancient near east (Israel and tury B.C.E.: A comparison with classical Greek rheto- Egypt), rhetoric in the ancient far east (China, Japan), ric. Columbia, SC: University of South Carolina Press. rhetoric in India, and ancient western (non-Greek) Oliver, R. T. (1961). The rhetorical implications of Taoism. rhetoric (Ireland). Quarterly Journal of Speech, 47, 27–35. Among so many possible approaches to rhetoric, Wang, B. (2004). A survey of research in Asian rhetoric. current work on rhetoric considers contemporary theo- Rhetoric Review, 23(2), 171–181. COMMUNICATION RESEARCH TRENDS VOLUME 34 (2015) NO. 2— 3 Epideictic Rhetoric Ilon Lauer [email protected] While it is difficult to give a global assessment of Epideictic scholarship is Janus-faced, simultaneously contemporary epideictic scholarship, it is reasonable to looking forward and backward as it generates insight suggest that rhetorical scholars continue to value the into this rhetorical form. important role epideictic plays in public culture. Since antiquity, scholars have sought to identify Epideictic genres continue to mutate, evolve, and dis- and understand the unique features of epideictic, one of appear, but the need to ground social mores, political the primary genres of rhetoric. It has long been known institutions, and communities through epideictic con- that the language use, topical choices, purposes, and tinues to endure. Aristotle’s millennia-old efforts to settings of epideictic were uniquely different from understand epideictic seem more relevant than ever. other forms of rhetoric, and these differences have pro- Epideictic rhetoric, understood both as a genre of and voked an enduring scholarly dialogue. This literature an approach to rhetoric, has always presented difficul- review will supply a brief survey of the fundamental ty to scholars endeavoring to define and understand it. features of ancient epideictic, attending to its theoreti- Its fundamental and primary unifying feature as a dis- cal origins, primary traditions, and earliest innovations. course of praise and blame poses little problems to It will then demonstrate the extent to which many of understanding, but the ubiquitous presence of praise these important themes continue to guide contempo- and blame in nearly every instance of rhetoric renders rary epideictic scholarship, scholarship characterized this single identifying feature of little assistance. On by its expanding scope and range of perspectives. the other hand, the immanence of praise in a range of Contemporary epideictic scholarship has elaborated the rhetorical exchanges and forms demands that its work- unique functions of epideictic discourse, its temporal ings be understood and appreciated. distinctiveness, its paradoxic conservative and progres- Epideictic scholarship in the field of communica- sive functions, and its potential applications to a range tion is also complicated by the fact that epideictic rhet- of new and under-explored texts. As a collective body oric constitutes a tradition that extends well over 2,000 of scholarship, contemporary studies of epideictic years and that its fundamental elements have been demonstrate the enduring vitality of this longstanding examined and discussed throughout this time. rhetorical practice. 1. Epideictic’s Classical Origins Studies of ancient epideictic rhetoric highlight its comprehensive English language study, but it has been ever-changing form, the role ritual has in epideictic

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