Title

Redefining Rhetoric: Why Matter Matters

Abstract

This essay redefines rhetoric in a manner that takes seriously the suasory character of matter-energy. Specifically, rhetoric is defined as the capacity of the thing-symbol-via its aesthetic qualities and signifying practices-to generate affect and discourse, whose intertwined sensory and cognitive processing elicit presence and meaning effects in a particular space-time. After charting and explaining the key relations among the constituent elements that comprise this conception of rhetoric, the advantages of studying rhetoric’s materiality in critical practice are discussed.

Department(s)

Communication

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

1-1-2019

Journal Title

Berlin Journal of Critical Theory

Citation-only

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