This collection of essays, edited by Victor J. Vitanza, is a
historiography of rhetoric, summarizing what has recently been
accomplished in the revision of traditional histories of rhetoric
and discussing what might be accomplished in the future. Featuring
a variety of approaches--classical, revisionary, and
avant-garde--it includes articles by Janet M. Atwill, James A.
Berlin, William A. Covino, Sharon Crowley, Hans Kellner, John
Poulakos, Takis Poulakos, John Schilb, Jane Sutton, Kathleen Ethel
Welch, Lynn Worsham, and Victor J. Vitanza.
In the first essay, Sharon Crowley identifies the major players
and primary issues in a chronological narrative of the debate about
the writing of the history of rhetoric that has arisen between
traditionalists "/ "essentialists and
revisionists/constructionists. In recent years, traditionalists
have demanded a more complete and accurate history, while
revisionists have sought a critical understanding of the various
epistemological-ideological grounds upon which a history of
rhetoric had been and could be constructed. Revisionists, in their
search for multiple, contestatory histories, have begun to critique
one another, breaking into two general groups: one favoring a
political-social program, the other resisting and disrupting such
an approach.
Vitanza echoes Crowley's review of this ongoing debate by asking
a crucial question: What exactly does it mean to be a revisionist
historian? By combining the disintegration of various revisionist
and subversive positions into a communal "we," he asks an
additional question: Who is the "we" writing histories of
rhetoric?
The essays that follow give a rich answer to Vitanza's
questions. They bring the writing of histories of rhetoric into the
larger area of postmodern theory, raising neglected issues of race,
gender, and class. Written with a variety of intentions, some of
the essays are expository and highly argumentative while others are
manifestos, innovative and far-reaching in tone. Still others are
summaries and background studies, providing useful information to
both the novice student and the experienced scholar.
This book, situated at a juncture between two disciplines,
composition studies and speech, will be a landmark collection for
many years.
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