Satterfield and Antczak – American Pragmatism and the Public Intellectual
Satterfield, Jay, and Frederick J. Antczak. “American Pragmatism and the Public Intellectual: Poetry, Prophecy, and the Process of Invention in Democracy.” Atwill, Janet, and Janice M. Lauer. Perspectives on Rhetorical Invention. 1st ed. Knoxville: University of Tennessee Press, 2002. Print. The authors find that pragmatic theories of invention (and pragamatism in general) offers an answer to the problem of postmodern theories of subjectivity/invention: if the world is composed... Read More
Sigmund Freud / T.S. Eliot – On Authorship
Sigmund Freud – “Creative Writers and Day-Dreaming” Freud is operating – even in the first paragraph – under the paradigm of creative writer as genius in this piece. He also likens creative writer creativity to the world of play – like children. Freud defines humour as something of a situation where the reality of daily life is interpellated with the play of childhood games. People never stop playing – they just move their play into the creation of phantasies;... Read More
Williams and Enos – Vico’s Triangular Invention
Williams, Mark T. and Theresa Enos. “Vico’s Triangular Invention.” Atwill, Janet, and Janice M. Lauer. Perspectives on Rhetorical Invention. 1st ed. Knoxville: University of Tennessee Press, 2002. The rhetorical situation has long been conceived of in spatial terms – as triangles, fields, waves, planes, webs, pentads, pyramids, and maps. Despite the influence of empirical philosophy in the 18th century, Giambattista Vico’s work on rhetoric continued to emphasize classical... Read More
Hagaman – On Campbell’s Philosophy of Rhetoric and Its Relevance to Contemporary Invention
Hagaman, John. “On Campbell’s Philosophy of Rhetoric and Its Relevance to Contemporary Invention.” RSQ: Rhetoric Society Quarterly 11 3 (1981): 145-54. Print. In this piece Hagaman rereads Campbell’s Philosophy of Rhetoric in order to reconsider his “theory of mind” and the role it plays in current inventional theory. Despite the fact that Campbell faithfully supported an empirical epistemology, he also accepted that intuition could yield knowledge if... Read More
Carter – The Role of Invention in Belletristic Rhetoric: A Study of the Lectures of Adam Smith
Carter, Michael. “The Role of Invention in Belletristic Rhetoric: A Study of the Lectures of Adam Smith.” RSQ: Rhetoric Society Quarterly 18 1 (1988): 3-13. Print. Adam Smith’s contribution to rhetoric included the first unification of belles letters and rhetoric and his role as Hugh Blair’s teacher while in the Scottish provinces. Carter defines belletristic rhetoric thusly: “a study of the common ground shared by classical rhetoric and belles letters: taste,... Read More
