Towards a poetics of contemporary public rhetoric: reporting platitude and cliche
Clark, Tom (2007) Towards a poetics of contemporary public rhetoric: reporting platitude and cliche. AUMLA, special issue. pp. 199-207. ISSN 0001-2793
Abstract
Voloshinov (Bakhtin?) argued that reported speech reveals the deep ideological predispositions of a discourse. This paper asks how we may assess the role of platitude and cliché in the process of reporting contemporary public rhetoric. It asks whether those features are necessary components of a grammar of contemporary public rhetoric. This paper's methods of analysis draw explicitly on methods pioneered for the analysis of oral-traditional poetry, especially the concept of 'formulas' in the phraseology and topic selection of public rhetoric. It builds on earlier examinations of the rhetorical performer's need for formulas, to argue that reportage is equally dependent on repertoires of 'prefabricated' phrases. Additionally, this paper foreshadows a need to explain the role of formulaic poetics in audience interpretations of public rhetoric.
Item type | Article |
URI | https://vuir.vu.edu.au/id/eprint/773 |
Subjects | Historical > Faculty/School/Research Centre/Department > School of Communication and the Arts Historical > RFCD Classification > 420000 Language and Culture |
Keywords | rhetoric, media, spoken performance, poetic formula, semiotics |
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