Written Communication Apr 2024 Open Access

Prolepsis and Rendering Futures in Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Reports

Ashley Rose Mehlenbacher University of Waterloo ; Sara Doody University of Waterloo ; Carolyn Eckert University of Waterloo ; Brad Mehlenbacher University of Waterloo

Abstract

Rhetorical figures of speech provide important analytical frames to chart how arguments operate within genres and within genre ecologies. Varieties of the figure prolepsis allow for the rendering of future time or fact in the present, which can be a powerful rhetorical inducement toward social and political action. In this article, we examine how anticipatory arguments drawn from complex data shape a key genre for public and policy-facing work on the climate crisis—the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s Synthesis Report’s (SYR) Statement for Policy Makers (SPM). We examine how the rhetorical figure of prolepsis operates within this genre to understand the anticipatory arguments and logics emerging from the synthesis of scientific findings and their reporting. Pairing figural studies and Rhetorical Genre Studies, we further offer an approach to investigate how these patterned operations of language might intersect in their rhetorical workings.

Journal
Written Communication
Published
2024-04-01
DOI
10.1177/07410883231222882
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Topics
rhetorical criticism genre theory
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