Rhetoric Review Oct 2013

Writing in the Age of Humans: (Post)Rhetoric-Composition and VichianIngenium

Edward Hahn Twin Cities Orthopedics

Abstract

Abstract Rhetoric-composition's turn toward posthumanism and complexity theory promises to help the field grasp contemporary writing. However, the turn's promise is undermined by its disregard for history, overvaluation of complexity, and unwillingness to engage the field's common sense. Giambattista Vico's theories of rhetoric and human development not only challenge the turn's representation of Enlightenment humanism but also point to the turn's inability to help writers participate in today's complex institutions. Vichian ingenium can serve as a touchstone for critical humanist scholarship and pedagogies that seek to chart a course between a bourgeois humanism and a barbaric posthumanism. Notes 1For the helpful comments and criticisms, many thanks go out to the two RR peer reviewers, Louise Phelps and Jeremy Engels, and Timothy Brennan.

Journal
Rhetoric Review
Published
2013-10-01
DOI
10.1080/07350198.2013.828548
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Topics
rhetorical criticism
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References (17) · 1 in this index

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    Beyond Postprocess
  5. Vastola. Michael (2011)
    Beyond Postprocess
Show all 17 →
  1. France Alan W. (2000)
    JAC
  2. Hawk Byron (2011)
    Beyond Postprocessand Michael Vastola
     ↗
  3. Hobbs Catherine L. (2002)
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    Unfolding sophistic and humanist practice throughingenium
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  5. Horner Bruce (2000)
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  6. Marshall David L. (2010)
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     ↗
  7. Sánchez Raúl. (2011)
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  8. Sánchez Raúl. (2005)
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  9. Taylor Mark C. (2003)
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  10. Giambattista Vico (1999)
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