Rhetoric: Concord and Controversy

In May 2010, more than 1,000 scholars from around the globe gathered for the Rhetoric Society of America's fourteenth biennial conference to contemplate two of the many dimensions of rhetoric, one divisive and conflictive, the other irenic and unifying. Cicero identified these divergent qualities, while Kenneth Burke took this either/or split personality and transformed it into a space where identification and division are found together, where sameness and diversity embrace the work of rhetoric.

As a product of the conference, Rhetoric: Concord and Controversy offers 32 essays that reflect on this realm of rhetoric and reveals a landscape that is vivid as well as varied, apparent as well as dense. These absorbing and thoughtful contributions ask, among many other things, what are the limits of rhetorical concord? What role does race and gender play in the give-and-take of unity and difference? Is there a viable alternative to agreeing to disagree? How can rhetorical pedagogy respond to the political controversies of today?

Titles of related interest also from Waveland Press: Smith-Warnick, The Responsibilities of Rhetoric (ISBN 9781577666233) and Zarefsky-Benacka, Sizing Up Rhetoric (ISBN 9781577665328).