The Viability Of The Rhetorical Tradition

Interrogates the story of rhetoric promoted in standard historical accounts and reconsiders the relationship between rhetorical theory, practice, and pedagogy.

The Viability of the Rhetorical Tradition reconsiders the relationship between rhetorical theory, practice, and pedagogy. Continuing the line of questioning begun in the 1980s, contributors examine the duality of a rhetorical canon in determining if past practice can make us more (or less) able to address contemporary concerns. Also examined is the role of tradition as a limiting or inspiring force, rhetoric as a discipline, rhetoric's contribution to interest in civic education and citizenship, and the possibilities digital media offer to scholars of rhetoric.

“The essays are wonderfully brief and well written. They come from some of the smarter and more influential rhetoricians of our time, representing a wide range of institutions and departments.” — Rhetoric Review

"This topic is enormously significant for all rhetoricians. It is an absolutely timely volume, consolidating and significantly advancing many important conversations." — Frederick J. Antczak, editor of Rhetoric and Pluralism: Legacies of Wayne Booth

"The essays collected here offer well-argued and provocative approaches to questioning the rhetorical tradition." — Jeffrey Walker, author of Rhetoric and Poetics in Antiquity

Contributors include Janet M. Atwill, Leah Ceccarelli, Jeanne Fahnestock, Robert N. Gaines, Richard Graff, Alan G. Gross, S. Michael Halloran, William Hart-Davidson, Susan C. Jarratt, Thomas J. Kinney, Michael Leff, Steven Mailloux, Thomas P. Miller, Arthur E. Walzer, and James P. Zappen.