Rhetoric Society Quarterly Jan 2005

The ethics of epideictic rhetoric: Addressing the problem of presence through Derrida's funeral orations

Brooke Rollins University of South Carolina

Abstract

Abstract I identify three modern approaches used to theorize epideictic rhetoric and suggest that each approach has difficulty dealing with the category of presence assigned to the genre by Aristotle. Drawing on Thucydides and, through him, Pericles' funeral oration, I suggest that Jacques Derrida's funeral speeches provide a way of rethinking the epideictic genre's presence as rhetorical ethics. More specifically, I argue that the function of presence in epideictic rhetoric is to provide an ethical interruption, and that Derrida, as one of our most accomplished funeral orators, helps us clarify the category of presence as it is described in Aristotle's and Thucydides' discussions of epideictic oratory.

Journal
Rhetoric Society Quarterly
Published
2005-01-01
DOI
10.1080/02773940509391301
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Topics
classical rhetoric rhetorical criticism genre theory public rhetoric
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Citation Context

Cited by in this index (6)

  1. Bost (2018)
    A Revolutionary Epideictic: Debt and Community in Karl Marx’sThe Civil War in France
    Rhetoric Society Quarterly
  2. Moe (2018)
    Reading Coles Reading Themes: Epideictic Rhetoric and the Teaching of Writing
    College Composition and Communication
  3. Pan (2015)
    The Newspaper as an Epideictic Meeting Point
    Argumentation
  4. Tumolo et al. (2014)
    Un/civil Mourning: Remembering with Jacques Derrida
    Rhetoric Society Quarterly
  5. Villadsen (2008)
    Speaking on Behalf of Others: Rhetorical Agency and Epideictic Functions in Off…
    Rhetoric Society Quarterly
Show all 6 →
  1. You (2006)
    TheWay, Multimodality of Ritual Symbols, and Social Change: Reading Confucius's…
    Rhetoric Society Quarterly

References (23)

  1. Aristotle (1984)
    Works of Aristotle Translated Into English
  2. _____ (1984)
    Works of Aristotle Translated Into English
  3. Burgess Theodore C. (1987)
    Epideictic Literature
  4. Cope E.M. (1867)
    An Introduction to Aristotle's Rhetoric
  5. Critchley Simon (1992)
    The Ethics of Deconstruction: Derrida and Levinas
Show all 23 →
  1. Derrida Jacques (1993)
    Aporias
  2. _____ (1995)
    The Gift of Death
  3. _____ (1984)
    diacritics
  4. _____ (1997)
    Politics of Friendship
  5. _____ (2001)
    The Work of Mourning
  6. _____ (2003)
    Nowhere Without No: In Memory of Maurice Blanchot
  7. Isocrates (2000)
    Isocrates I
  8. Kennedy George (1963)
    The Art of Persuasion in Greece
  9. _____ (1994)
    A New History of Classical Rhetoric
  10. Loraux Nicole (1986)
    The Invention of Athens: The Funeral Oration in the Classical City
  11. Naas Michael (2003)
    Taking on the Tradition: Jacques Derrida and the Legacies of Deconstruction
  12. Ochs Donovan J. (1993)
    Consolatory Rhetoric: Grief, Symbol, and Ritual in the Greco‐Roman Era
  13. Perelman Chaim (1969)
    The New Rhetoric: A Treatise on Argumentation
  14. Rosenfield Lawrence W. (1980)
    Rhetoric in Transition
  15. 10.2307/378414
     ↗
  16. Thucydides (1900)
    History of the Peloponnesian War. Thucydides Translated into English
  17. Vickers Brian (1988)
    In Defense of Rhetoric
  18. Walker Jeffrey (2000)
    Rhetoric and Poetics in Antiquity
     ↗
CrossRef global citation count: 11 View in citation network → Build reading path →

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