Advances in the History of Rhetoric Jan 2004

J. S. Mill on Poetry and Rhetoric

Karen E. Whedbee Northern Illinois University

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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Topics
rhetorical criticism public rhetoric literary studies
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