Rhetoric Society Quarterly Sep 2001

Text and experience in a historical pageant: Toward a rhetoric of spectacle

S. Michael Halloran Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute

Abstract

Abstract A 1927 pageant at the Saratoga Battlefield illustrates the workings of spectacle, here defined as a public gathering of people who have come to witness some event and are self‐consciously present to each other as well as to that event. Like Debord and others, I emphasize a tension between lived experience and text. Unlike them, I argue that spectacle is itself a lived experience that may be of greater consequence than the rhetorical text. I suggest that rhetoricians should strive to get at the lived experience that may be reflected quite imperfectly in the rhetorical text.

Journal
Rhetoric Society Quarterly
Published
2001-09-01
DOI
10.1080/02773940109391212
Open Access
Closed

Citation Context

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  2. Milbourne (2016)
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  3. Haskins (2007)
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  4. Smith et al. (2003)
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Cites in this index (0)

No references match articles in this index.

Also cites 2 works outside this index ↓
  1. 10.1080/00335630109384325
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  2. 10.1080/00335639009383909
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CrossRef global citation count: 9 View in citation network →