Rhetoric, discourse and the hermeneutics of public speech
| Author | James Martin |
| DOI | 10.1177/0263395720933779 |
| Published date | 01 May 2022 |
| Date | 01 May 2022 |
| Subject Matter | Special Issue Articles |
https://doi.org/10.1177/0263395720933779
Politics
2022, Vol. 42(2) 170 –184
© The Author(s) 2020
Article reuse guidelines:
sagepub.com/journals-permissions
DOI: 10.1177/0263395720933779
journals.sagepub.com/home/pol
Rhetoric, discourse and the
hermeneutics of public speech
James Martin
Goldsmiths, University of London, UK
Abstract
What insights and advantages do rhetorical approaches offer over other methods of exploring
social and political discourse? This article aims to clarify the contribution of rhetorical analysis by
exploring its distinctive, hermeneutic attention to public speech. Public speaking is, accordingly,
viewed as a practice of assembling meaningful interpretations in specific situations. Central here
is a temporal dimension. Analysing rhetoric involves grasping discourse, on the one hand, as
concretely situated in response to proximate constraints and, on the other hand, as a medium to
move beyond the situation towards a future. Following John Caputo’s reading of Derrida, I argue
that, examined rhetorically, public speech enacts a ‘negotiation’ of past and future, intertwining
conditional – and hence partially calculable – positions with an ‘unconditional promise’ to prepare
for what comes. Although compatible with other approaches, rhetorical analysis is uniquely
attuned to this intrinsically ethical and political quality of discursive action.
Keywords
Caputo, Derrida, discourse, hermeneutics, temporality
Received: 14th January 2020; Revised version received: 28th March 2020; Accepted: 19th May 2020
Introduction
What does rhetorical enquiry bring to the analysis of political discourse that other
approaches do not? What is it to explore something called ‘rhetoric’ when more elaborate
theories of discourse are readily available? Rhetorical analysis, I will argue, is attuned to
fundamental, hermeneutic dimensions of discourse, that is, to its qualities as an activity
of assembling and re-assembling the meaning of a situation. Where systematic analyses
of discourse seek out generic patterns that align to wider problematics (such as power
relations, social struggles, or linguistic communities), rhetorical enquiry takes as its ini-
tial object the particular ‘moves’ and strategies that generate, innovate and mobilise such
discourses and give them singular expression. Where ‘discourse’ refers abstractly to the
general domain of signs and symbolic exchanges, ‘rhetoric’ specifies quite determinate
techniques, devices and strategies.
Corresponding author:
James Martin, Goldsmiths, University of London, London SE14 6NW, UK.
Email: j.martin@gold.ac.uk
933779POL0010.1177/0263395720933779PoliticsMartin
research-article2020
Special Issue Article
Get this document and AI-powered insights with a free trial of vLex and Vincent AI
Get Started for FreeStart Your Free Trial of vLex and Vincent AI, Your Precision-Engineered Legal Assistant
-
Access comprehensive legal content with no limitations across vLex's unparalleled global legal database
-
Build stronger arguments with verified citations and CERT citator that tracks case history and precedential strength
-
Transform your legal research from hours to minutes with Vincent AI's intelligent search and analysis capabilities
-
Elevate your practice by focusing your expertise where it matters most while Vincent handles the heavy lifting
Start Your Free Trial of vLex and Vincent AI, Your Precision-Engineered Legal Assistant
-
Access comprehensive legal content with no limitations across vLex's unparalleled global legal database
-
Build stronger arguments with verified citations and CERT citator that tracks case history and precedential strength
-
Transform your legal research from hours to minutes with Vincent AI's intelligent search and analysis capabilities
-
Elevate your practice by focusing your expertise where it matters most while Vincent handles the heavy lifting
Start Your Free Trial of vLex and Vincent AI, Your Precision-Engineered Legal Assistant
-
Access comprehensive legal content with no limitations across vLex's unparalleled global legal database
-
Build stronger arguments with verified citations and CERT citator that tracks case history and precedential strength
-
Transform your legal research from hours to minutes with Vincent AI's intelligent search and analysis capabilities
-
Elevate your practice by focusing your expertise where it matters most while Vincent handles the heavy lifting
Start Your Free Trial of vLex and Vincent AI, Your Precision-Engineered Legal Assistant
-
Access comprehensive legal content with no limitations across vLex's unparalleled global legal database
-
Build stronger arguments with verified citations and CERT citator that tracks case history and precedential strength
-
Transform your legal research from hours to minutes with Vincent AI's intelligent search and analysis capabilities
-
Elevate your practice by focusing your expertise where it matters most while Vincent handles the heavy lifting
Start Your Free Trial of vLex and Vincent AI, Your Precision-Engineered Legal Assistant
-
Access comprehensive legal content with no limitations across vLex's unparalleled global legal database
-
Build stronger arguments with verified citations and CERT citator that tracks case history and precedential strength
-
Transform your legal research from hours to minutes with Vincent AI's intelligent search and analysis capabilities
-
Elevate your practice by focusing your expertise where it matters most while Vincent handles the heavy lifting
