J. S. Mill on Poetry and Rhetoric

Abstract

Abstract In his essay “What is Poetry ?”(1833), John Stuart Mill described the difference between rhetoric and poetry using the antithesis, “rhetoric is heard; poetry is overheard.” In the twentieth century, scholars from the field of Speech Communication appropriated Mill's words as justification for the separation of Speech Communication (and rhetorical criticism) from English (and literary criticism). This essay argues that twentieth-century scholars misunderstood Mill's meaning. They failed to recognize that, for Mill, the key issue was not the frequently quoted distinction between rhetoric and poetry but a more problematic distinction between art and science.

Journal
Advances in the History of Rhetoric
Published
2004-01-01
DOI
10.1080/15362426.2004.10557223
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Also cites 6 works outside this index ↓
  1. John Stuart Mill, A Criticism:
  2. John Stuart Mill: A Biography.
  3. “Literature as an Enterprise in Communication.”
    Quarterly Journal of Speech  
  4. “The Field of Rhetoric.”
    Quarterly Journal of Speech Education  
  5. “Rhetoric and Poetry.”
    Quarterly Journal of Speech Education  
  6. “Criticism and Social Consequences.”
    Quarterly Journal of Speech  
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