Page 82 - Žagar, Igor Ž. 2021. Four Critical Essays on Argumentation. Ljubljana: Pedagoški inštitut.
P. 82
four critical essays on argumentation
A locutor is the entity (person, organizationa ...) that is (symbolical-
ly) responsible for the message of the ad. In our case the message could
be reconstructed as something like: ‘Smoking kills’. But this (meta)mes-
sage is obviously only possible because there is an interplay of (at least two)
enunciators or uttering positions within the locutor; the first one declaring
that smoking is cool/attractive/adult (the original Marlboro ads) ..., and the
second one subverting, criticizing such a position (the Adbuster ads). And
the criticism as the main theme of the Adbuster ads prevails as the main
message.
Rhizome and superdiversity in visual argumentation
—a commentary
At this point, it may be worth briefly mentioning that in dealing with vis-
uals, with construction of meaning and interpretation in visuals, we are
necessarily dealing with the so-called rhizomatic structure and rhizomat-
ic reading.
Rhizome is a (philosophical) concept developed in 1980 by two French
philosophers, Gilles Deleuze and Félix Guattari (2005), and defined as the-
oretical approach that
ceaselessly establishes connections between (different) semiotic
chains, organizations of power, and circumstances relative to the
arts, sciences, and social struggles. A semiotic chain is like a tu-
ber agglomerating very diverse acts, not only linguistic, but also
perceptive, mimetic, gestural and cognitive ...‘ (Deleuze, Guattari
2005: 28)
The concept was borrowed from botany and dendrology, where rhi-
zome is a modified subterranean stem of a plant that is usually found un-
derground, often sending out roots and shoots from its node. The rhizome
also retains the ability to allow new shoots to grow upwards. If a rhizome
is separated into pieces, each piece may be able to give rise to a new plant.
82
A locutor is the entity (person, organizationa ...) that is (symbolical-
ly) responsible for the message of the ad. In our case the message could
be reconstructed as something like: ‘Smoking kills’. But this (meta)mes-
sage is obviously only possible because there is an interplay of (at least two)
enunciators or uttering positions within the locutor; the first one declaring
that smoking is cool/attractive/adult (the original Marlboro ads) ..., and the
second one subverting, criticizing such a position (the Adbuster ads). And
the criticism as the main theme of the Adbuster ads prevails as the main
message.
Rhizome and superdiversity in visual argumentation
—a commentary
At this point, it may be worth briefly mentioning that in dealing with vis-
uals, with construction of meaning and interpretation in visuals, we are
necessarily dealing with the so-called rhizomatic structure and rhizomat-
ic reading.
Rhizome is a (philosophical) concept developed in 1980 by two French
philosophers, Gilles Deleuze and Félix Guattari (2005), and defined as the-
oretical approach that
ceaselessly establishes connections between (different) semiotic
chains, organizations of power, and circumstances relative to the
arts, sciences, and social struggles. A semiotic chain is like a tu-
ber agglomerating very diverse acts, not only linguistic, but also
perceptive, mimetic, gestural and cognitive ...‘ (Deleuze, Guattari
2005: 28)
The concept was borrowed from botany and dendrology, where rhi-
zome is a modified subterranean stem of a plant that is usually found un-
derground, often sending out roots and shoots from its node. The rhizome
also retains the ability to allow new shoots to grow upwards. If a rhizome
is separated into pieces, each piece may be able to give rise to a new plant.
82
