Full Description
A Theory of Contemporary Rhetoric describes, explains, and argues the overarching theory of contemporary rhetoric. This current view of rhetoric brings together themes in the communication arts, including political literary criticism; bi- and multi-lingualism; multimodality; framing as an artistic and sociological device for composition and interpretation; literacy in the digital age; and the division between fiction and 'non-fiction' in language/literature studies. Chapters explore the implications of rhetoric for particular aspects of the field. Discussions throughout the book provide illustrations that ground the material in practice.
As an overarching theory in the communication arts, rhetoric is elegant as a theoretical solution and simple as a practical one. It asks such questions as who is speaking/writing/composing? to whom? why? what is being conveyed? and how is it being conveyed?
Acknowledging the dirth of recent works addressing the theory of rhetoric, this book aims to fill the existing theoretical gap and at the same time move the field of language/literature studies forward into new territory. It provides the keynote theoretical guide for a generation of teachers, teacher educators and researchers in the fields of English as a subject; English as a second, foreign or additional language; and language study in general.
Contents
Chapter 1: Introduction
Chapter 2: Why rhetoric?
Chapter 3: Rhetoric and English studies
Chapter 4: Rhetoric and power
Chapter 5: Rhetoric and the politics of communication
Chapter 6: Rhetoric and argumentation
Chapter 7: Rhetoric and framing
Chapter 8: Multilingual rhetoric
Chapter 9: Rhetoric and poetics/poetry, or form as a rhetorical strategy
Chapter 10: Rhetoric and drama/theatre
Chapter 11: Rhetoric and multimodality
Chapter 12: Rhetoric in the digital age
Chapter 13: Rhetoric and education
Chapter 14: The future of rhetoric
