Rhetoric and Irony: Western Literacy and Western Lies
- ISBN-10
- 0195063627
- ISBN-13
- 9780195063622
- Category
- Civilization, Western
- Pages
- 323
- Language
- English
- Published
- 1991
- Publisher
- Oxford University Press on Demand
- Author
- C. Jan Swearingen
Description
This pathbreaking study integrates the histories of rhetoric, literacy, and literary aesthetics up to the time of Augustine, focusing on Western concepts of rhetoric as dissembling and of language as deceptive that Swearingen argues have received curiously prominent emphasis in Western aesthetics and language theory. Swearingen reverses the traditional focus on rhetoric as an oral agonistic genre and examines it instead as a paradigm for literate discourse. She proposes that rhetoric and literacy have in the West disseminated the interrelated notions that through learning rhetoric individuals can learn to manipulate language and others; that language is an unreliable, manipulable, and contingent vehicle of thought, meaning, and communication; and that literature is a body of pretty lies and beguiling fictions. In a bold concluding chapter Swearingen aligns her thesis concerning early Western literacy and rhetoric with contemporary critical and rhetorical theory; with feminist studies in language, psychology, and culture; and with studies of literacy in multi- and cross-cultural settings.
Get the book
Other editions
-
- 1991-09-05
- 344 pages
- Ebook
- Oxford University Press
Similar books
-
Documents in Western Civilization
Documents in Western Civilization provides students with a collection of primary source documents in Western Civilization, presented in chronological order to aid students in placing these documents in historical context.
-
Discovering the Western Past: A Look at the Evidence Since 1500
By William Bruce Wheeler, Merry E. Wiesner-Hanks, Julius R. RuffDiscovering the Western Past: A Look at the Evidence Since 1500
-
Discovering the Western Past: Since 1500
By William Bruce Wheeler, Merry E. Wiesner, Julius Ralph RuffThe text emphasizes historical study as interpretation rather than memorization of data, with actual documents and artifacts from which students develop answers to historical questions.
-
Discovering the Western Past: Instructor's Resource Manual
By Merry E. Wiesner, CENGAGE LearningDiscovering the Western Past: Instructor's Resource Manual
-
Discovering the Western Past: A Look at the Evidence
By William Bruce Wheeler, Merry E. Wiesner-Hanks, Merry E. WiesnerA Look at the Evidence Merry E. Wiesner, Julius Ralph Ruff, William Bruce Wheeler. I DISCOVERING THE WE5TERN PAST WIESNER RUFF WHEELER OURTH EDITION Volume.
-
Civilization in the West: Since 1555
By Mark A. Kishlansky, Patrick J. Geary, Patricia O'BrienCatholic rival as king , and the pope excommuniThe bolder the League became , the more des- { cated Henry of Navarre and absolved France from perate was the position of the crown . Though loyalty to him . If Henry was to become king of ...
-
Western Civilization
By Jackson J. SpielvogelGregory remained loyal to the empire and continued to address the Byzantine emperor as the rightful ruler of Italy . Gregory also pursued a policy of extending papal authority over the Christian church in the west .
-
Noble-Western Civilization: The Continuing Experiment
By David Roberts, William Cohen, Thomas F. X. NobleReprinted by permission of Pearson Education, Inc., Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. Page 421: "Isabella d'Este Orders Art" from "Isabella d'Este, Patron of the Arts" from David S. Chambers, Patrons and Artists in the Italian Renaissance.
-
The Western Heritage - To 1740
By Donald Kagan, Steven Ozment, Frank M. TurnerThis authoritative book presents an engaging and accessible narrative account of the central developments in Western history to 1740.
-
The Western Heritage: Volume C
By Donald Kagan, Steven Ozment, Alison FrankSupport Instructors- A full set of supplements, including MyHistoryLab, provides instructors with all the resources and support they need. Note: MyHistoryLab does not come automatically packaged with this text.