Culture and Rhetoric (Studies in Rhetoric and Culture, 1)

Many factors contribute to the shaping of human action, but rhetoric, we argue, is the decisive factor in the emergence of cultural diversity past and present. Several scholars have criticized the notion of “culture” as inviting a particular form of reification and implying a Procrustean vision of human existence. For this reason, they even began to write against culture or urged abandonment of the concept altogether.Yet, it seems to us that a more productive way would be to rethink the concept and locate culture in the domain where it ultimately be-longs—that is, rhetoric. While Some Scholars Have Said That There Is No Such Thing As Culture And Have Urged To Abandon The Concept Altogether, The Contributors To This Volume Overcome This Impasse By Understanding Cultures And Their Representations For What They Ultimately Are - Rhetorical Constructs. These Senior, International Scholars Explore The Complex Relationships Between Culture And Rhetoric Arguing That Just As Rhetoric Is Founded In Culture, Culture Is Founded In Rhetoric. This Intersection Constitutes The Central Theme Of The First Part Of The Book, While The Second Is Dedicated To The Study Of Figuration As A Common Ground Of Rhetoric And Anthropology. The Book Offers A Compelling Range Of Theoretical Reflections, Historical Vistas, And Empirical Investigations, Which Aim To Show How People Talk Themselves And Others Into Particular Modalities Of Thought And Action, And How Rhetoric And Culture, In This Way, Are Co-emergent. It Thus Turns A New Page In The History Of Academic Discourse By Bringing Two Disciplines - Anthropology And Rhetoric - Together In A Way That Has Never Been Done Before.--publisher's Website. 1. The Rhetoric Culture Project / Stephen Tyler And Ivo Strecker -- 2. Precursors Of Rhetoric Culture Theory / Christian Meyer -- 3. Homo Rhetoricus / Peter L. Oesterreich -- 4. Listening Culture / Daniel M. Gross -- 5. Practice Of Rhetoric, Rhetoric Of Practice / Vincenzo Cannada Bartoli -- 6. Chiastic Thought And Culture : A Reading Of Claude Lévi-strauss / Boris Wiseman -- 7. When Fair Is Foul And Foul Is Fair : Lessons From Macbeth / Anthony Paul -- 8. Rhetoric, Truth, And The Work Of Trope / Alan Rumsey -- 9. Figuration, A Common Ground Of Rhetoric And Anthropology / Philippe-joseph Salazar -- 10. Tropical Foundations And Foundational Tropes Of Culture / James W. Fernandez -- 11. Convictions : Embodied Rhetorics Of Earnest Belief / Michael Herzfeld -- 12. An Epistemological Query / Pierre Maranda -- 13. Beyond The Unsaid : Transcending Language Through Language / Paul Friedrich -- 14. Future Imperfect : Imagining Rhetorical Culture Theory / Robert Hariman. Edited By Ivo Strecker And Stephen Tyler. Includes Bibliographical References And Index. 1. The Rhetoric Culture Project 21 Stephen Tyler and Ivo Strecker 2. Precursors of Rhetoric Culture Theory 31 Christian Meyer 3. Homo Rhetoricus 49 Peter Oesterreich 4. Listening Culture 59 Daniel M. Gross 5. Practice of Rhetoric, Rhetoric of Practice 74 Vincenzo Cannada Bartoli 6. Chiastic Thought and Culture: A Reading of Claude Lévi-Strauss 85 Boris Wiseman 7. When Fair Is Foul and Foul Is Fair: Lessons from Macbeth 104 Anthony Paul 8. Rhetoric,Truth,and the Work of Trope 117 Alan Rumsey 9. Figuration, a Common Ground of Rhetoric and Anthropology 150 Philippe-Joseph Salazar 10. Tropical Foundations and Foundational Tropes of Culture 166 James W. Fernandez 11. Convictions: Embodied Rhetorics of Earnest Belief 182 Michael Herzfeld 12. An Epistemological Query 207 Pierre Maranda 13. Beyond the Unsaid:Transcending Language through Language 211 Paul Friedrich 14. Future Imperfect: Imagining Rhetoric Culture 221 Robert Hariman