Texts in Context: Critical Dialogues on Significant Episodes in American Political Rhetoric

This volume is the result of a conference convened at Madison under the title, "The Wisconsin Symposium on Public Address: Case Studies in Political Rhetoric." The format was designed to allow maximum concentration on case studies and to promote as much open discussion as possible. The discussion periods proved lively and stimulating, and they contributed greatly to the vitality of the conference. Unfortunately, there was trouble finding a way to reproduce these conversations in a form that would interest or make sense to a reader. An effort was made to retain something of the spirit of exchange and controversy that marked the conference. For that reason, the papers and responses are published in paired sets, each one forming a chapter of this volume. Almost all of these contributions have been revised significantly as a result of comment and criticism generated at the conference. Nevertheless, the basic pattern remains unchanged. The responses all suggest alternative interpretations of the same text or texts, and the reader perhaps can sense how subsequent discussion might follow from a consideration of these differing perspectives. The conference had its origin in conversation and much of its business was conducted through that medium.

Table of Contents:
Contents: Preface. R.L. Scott, Foreword: Against Rhetorical Theory: Tripping to Serendip. Part I: Current Views of Public Address. D. Zarefsky, The State of the Art in Public Address Scholarship. M.J. Medhurst, Public Address and Significant Scholarship: Four Challenges to the Rhetorical Renaissance. J.A. Aune, Public Address and Rhetorical Theory. Part II: Six Case Studies. S.H. Browne, Burke's Speech on Conciliation: The Pragmatic Basis of Rhetorical Judgment. J.L. Lucaites, Burke's Speech on Conciliation as Oppositional Discourse. K.K. Campbell, La Pucelle D'Orleans Becomes an American Girl: Anna Dickinson's "Jeanne D'Arc." W. Linkugel, R. Rowland, Response to Karlyn Kohrs Campbell's Anna E. Dickinson's Jeanne D'Arc: Divergent Views. R.L. Ivie, Metaphor and Motive in the Johnson Administration's Vietnam War Rhetoric. B. Brummett, Some Burkean Roads Not Taken: A Response to Ivie. M. Osborn, "I've Been to the Mountaintop": The Critic as Participant. J.W. Wenzel, "A Dangerous Unselfishness": Martin Luther King, Jr.'s Speech at Memphis, April 3, 1968: A Response to Osborn. J.R. Cox, The Fulfillment of Time: King's "I Have a Dream" Speech (August 28, 1963). R. Hariman, Time and the Reconstitution of Gradualism in King's Address: A Response to Cox. C.M. Condit, Nixon's "Fund": Time as Ideological Resource in the "Checkers" Speech. T.B. Farrell, The Carnival as Confessional: Re-reading the Figurative Dimension in Nixon's 'Checkers' Speech. Part III: Epilogue. D.P. Gaonkar, Epilogue The Oratorical Text: The Enigma of Arrival. Part IV: Two Newly-Edited Speech Texts. A.E. Dickinson, Jeanne D'Arc. M.L. King, Jr., I've Been to the Mountaintop.