Neo-sophistry and the Materiality of Rhetoric in Contemporary Rhetorical Theory

This course is a primer in rhetorical theory that provides a brief overview of the history of (Western) rhetoric and introduces various key rhetorical concepts, traditions, and debates within contemporary rhetorical theory. We will begin by reading primary rhetorical texts beginning in the classical period and ending in the early modern period, before moving into contemporary rhetorical theory post-1960s.

There are three main threads that we will consider as we work through these readings:

First, throughout the course, we will trace key debates that have shaped public attitudes towards rhetoric and have affected rhetoric’s prominence and role in education. Thus, in addition to learning about individual rhetors and discrete theories, we will strive to trace the “through lines” that appear cyclically throughout the history of rhetoric. In what political climates is rhetoric valued or held suspect? Under what circumstances is rhetoric seen as constitutive of truth, rather than as mere rhetoric that either distracts us from the truth or simply delivers it in a prettier package? What is the relationship between rhetorical training and citizen formation in difference historical periods? And so on.

Second, we will consider the usefulness of studying rhetoric (both historically and in this present moment). How and why might one study rhetoric and rhetorical force? What does it mean to analyze texts, discourses, social phenomenon, and material practices from a rhetorical perspective? What exactly is a rhetorical lens, anyway, and what is the value of thinking rhetorically? How might we best approach the teaching of rhetoric? I am also interested in our thinking about rhetorical theories quite literally as tools that enable certain kinds of vision and lines of sights—that lend us various ways of seeing (and not seeing, of course).

Third, our discipline is currently intellectually centered in what Victor Vitanza has called the third sophistic and what Bruce McComiskey has identified as the reign of neo-sophistry. Preoccupied with social epistemic rhetorical theories and pedagogies that emphasize the situatedness of truth, neo-sophistry has flourished in tandem with poststructuralism and postmodern sensibilities. As part of our foray into contemporary rhetorical theory, we will linger on this sophistic moment. What are the underlying philosophical commitments of neo-sophism? What are the limitations and liabilities of these commitments? Within the context of a neo-sophistic framework, the materiality of rhetoric (how it is embodied and enacted in various times and social spaces through everyday practices, ordinary genres, institutions, and so on) becomes paramount. But what exact is the materiality of rhetoric and how does one theorize and study it? Given our commitments to situated knowledge, how can we theorize an accompanying situated ethics? In short, we will collectively try to map the critical edges of neo-sophistic rhetoric (i.e. this social epistemic moment), call out shortcomings, consider what our lenses enable us to see and not see, and identify possible directions for research.


Texts under consideration:
Barilli, Renato, Rhetoric
Biesecker, Barbara and John Lucaites, Eds. Rhetoric, Materiality, and Politics
Bizzell, Patricia and Bruce Herzberg, Eds. The Rhetorical Tradition
Crowley, Sharon and Debra Hawhee, Ancient Rhetorics for Contemporary Students
Jaratt, Susan, Rereading the Sophists: Classical Rhetoric Refigured
Hawhee, Debra Moving Bodies: Kenneth Burke at the Edges of Language
McComiskey, Bruce, Gorgias and the New Sophistic Rhetoric
Murphy, James and Richard A. Katula. A Synoptic History of Classical Rhetoric
Selzer, Jack and Sharon Crowley, Eds. Rhetorical Bodies
And a course pack of readings