Page 342 - Gabrijela Kišiček and Igor Ž. Žagar (eds.), What do we know about the world? Rhetorical and argumentative perspectives, Digital Library, Educational Research Institute, Ljubljana 2013
P. 342
What Do We Know about the World?
bears in mind.” The rhetorical speech used to be considered as the or-
chestration of a text serving semantic and pragmatic aims, supporting
the speaker’s credibility. Even in later centuries, “accento rhetorico” was
considered to be the highest virtue of the performer, placed above the
“accento grammatico” which had no sensitivity to the totality of the rhe-
torical communication.
Although sound was considered to be of great importance, aural
rhetoric has remained a less discussed aspect of understanding; inter-
preting and producing (new) media messages. Scott Halbritter (2004:
225) assumed that it was overlooked by media theorists for the follow-
ing reasons:
1. our visually oriented terminology has screened out terminology for real-
izing the aural, 2. the information aural tools support appears, when success-
fully composed, to be subordinate to the visual information with which it
is contextualized. 3. We have not traditionally established, nor recognized
legitimate aurally rhetorical ends for the conventional forms of academic
compositions.
Neglected as it is, aural rhetoric does not cease to offer an enriched
view of new media argumentation and persuasion. It highlights the au-
ral dimension of a media-message as a rhetorical activity. Whilst au-
dio branding (sonic branding; acoustic branding) has gained considera-
ble significance in the field of marketing communication – recognizing
and revealing the role of sound, melody, and noise in making the mes-
sage persuasive and memorable – the need for aural literacy; “auralacy”
is only now awakening. Whilst, within new media, for a long time, the
internet was considered to be silent or mute, we are also moving in the
context of soundscapes. It is aural rhetoric which can provide consum-
ers with literacy and competence to understand, interpret, and represent
meaningful sound-constructs. Hence, aural rhetoric can be apprehend-
ed in three ways:
- As the strategic formation of sounding structures in the multi-me-
dia message. Here, we consider aural rhetoric as a product, the func-
tions, of which, can be categorized as aural genres.
- As a critical tool to interpret how the aural is related to the visual
and verbal. How it constitutes the context of drawing conclusions
and what meanings it generates. It is the phenomenological appre-
hension, of aural rhetoric, to focus on the reality it creates and the
signifying processes by which it operates.
bears in mind.” The rhetorical speech used to be considered as the or-
chestration of a text serving semantic and pragmatic aims, supporting
the speaker’s credibility. Even in later centuries, “accento rhetorico” was
considered to be the highest virtue of the performer, placed above the
“accento grammatico” which had no sensitivity to the totality of the rhe-
torical communication.
Although sound was considered to be of great importance, aural
rhetoric has remained a less discussed aspect of understanding; inter-
preting and producing (new) media messages. Scott Halbritter (2004:
225) assumed that it was overlooked by media theorists for the follow-
ing reasons:
1. our visually oriented terminology has screened out terminology for real-
izing the aural, 2. the information aural tools support appears, when success-
fully composed, to be subordinate to the visual information with which it
is contextualized. 3. We have not traditionally established, nor recognized
legitimate aurally rhetorical ends for the conventional forms of academic
compositions.
Neglected as it is, aural rhetoric does not cease to offer an enriched
view of new media argumentation and persuasion. It highlights the au-
ral dimension of a media-message as a rhetorical activity. Whilst au-
dio branding (sonic branding; acoustic branding) has gained considera-
ble significance in the field of marketing communication – recognizing
and revealing the role of sound, melody, and noise in making the mes-
sage persuasive and memorable – the need for aural literacy; “auralacy”
is only now awakening. Whilst, within new media, for a long time, the
internet was considered to be silent or mute, we are also moving in the
context of soundscapes. It is aural rhetoric which can provide consum-
ers with literacy and competence to understand, interpret, and represent
meaningful sound-constructs. Hence, aural rhetoric can be apprehend-
ed in three ways:
- As the strategic formation of sounding structures in the multi-me-
dia message. Here, we consider aural rhetoric as a product, the func-
tions, of which, can be categorized as aural genres.
- As a critical tool to interpret how the aural is related to the visual
and verbal. How it constitutes the context of drawing conclusions
and what meanings it generates. It is the phenomenological appre-
hension, of aural rhetoric, to focus on the reality it creates and the
signifying processes by which it operates.
