Page 127 - Šolsko polje, XXX, 2019, št. 5-6: Civic, citizenship and rhetorical education in a rapidly changing world, eds. Janja Žmavc and Plamen Mirazchiyski
P. 127
p. aczél ■ a road to rhetorica: teaching rhetoric as social sensitivity ...
– symbolic action,
– interaction,
– social action,
– strategic action,
– creative action,
– ritual and dialogical action.
Based on these factors, the most important characteristics of rheto-
ric are situational connectedness, mutuality, creativity and strategicality.
In other words: rhetoric is not abstract but factual, not monologic but di-
alogic; it is not merely a mimicry of forms but a creative activity. It is em-
bedded in the social-communal situation to which it can serve as a change
agent.
According to Lloyd Bitzer (1980, pp. 21–38) the starting point of any
rhetorical statement is the given social situation. In such a way, the cen-
tral concept of rhetorical communication is the actual context along with
concrete human relationships and needs: practical wisdom (phronesis).
We must, however, presuppose the following criteria:
1) people harmonize their needs and wants with the inner mental and
the outer physical world;
2) if another party enters the interaction, a symbolic, communicative
and rhetorical aspect, need, want or problem also emerges;
3) the interaction is aimed at recognising, resolving and satisfying this
need and pairing it with another social need.
Rhetoric is a social activity as its goal is to enter into contact with
at least one other individual and to create and reproduce a social reali-
ty. “In other words, people cooperate with each other in social activities
aimed at creating compatible interpretations of their situations” (Hauser,
2002, p. 10): thus, rhetoric is the tool and phenomenon of desired cooper-
ation in a given situation. The method of communication used by rheto-
ric is oriented towards the new but not primarily through being inform-
ative: it is characterised more by the ability to reinforce commonplaces
(common knowledge) and by the dialogical and creative practice of invok-
ing new points of view. Its ritual always starts by creating a common, new
psychological space through grabbing the other party’s attention. Then
– building on this new, unfamiliar type of attention – it accentuates al-
ready known information employing the contrast of harmonisation and
unexpected twists. The seemingly unique content and the universal na-
ture of the structure together create the forces that drive the social-rhe-
torical ritual.
125
– symbolic action,
– interaction,
– social action,
– strategic action,
– creative action,
– ritual and dialogical action.
Based on these factors, the most important characteristics of rheto-
ric are situational connectedness, mutuality, creativity and strategicality.
In other words: rhetoric is not abstract but factual, not monologic but di-
alogic; it is not merely a mimicry of forms but a creative activity. It is em-
bedded in the social-communal situation to which it can serve as a change
agent.
According to Lloyd Bitzer (1980, pp. 21–38) the starting point of any
rhetorical statement is the given social situation. In such a way, the cen-
tral concept of rhetorical communication is the actual context along with
concrete human relationships and needs: practical wisdom (phronesis).
We must, however, presuppose the following criteria:
1) people harmonize their needs and wants with the inner mental and
the outer physical world;
2) if another party enters the interaction, a symbolic, communicative
and rhetorical aspect, need, want or problem also emerges;
3) the interaction is aimed at recognising, resolving and satisfying this
need and pairing it with another social need.
Rhetoric is a social activity as its goal is to enter into contact with
at least one other individual and to create and reproduce a social reali-
ty. “In other words, people cooperate with each other in social activities
aimed at creating compatible interpretations of their situations” (Hauser,
2002, p. 10): thus, rhetoric is the tool and phenomenon of desired cooper-
ation in a given situation. The method of communication used by rheto-
ric is oriented towards the new but not primarily through being inform-
ative: it is characterised more by the ability to reinforce commonplaces
(common knowledge) and by the dialogical and creative practice of invok-
ing new points of view. Its ritual always starts by creating a common, new
psychological space through grabbing the other party’s attention. Then
– building on this new, unfamiliar type of attention – it accentuates al-
ready known information employing the contrast of harmonisation and
unexpected twists. The seemingly unique content and the universal na-
ture of the structure together create the forces that drive the social-rhe-
torical ritual.
125
