Gries – Practicing Methods in Ancient Cultural Rhetorics: Uncovering Rhetorical Action in Moche Burial Rituals

Laurie Gries – “Practicing Methods in Ancient Cultural Rhetorics: Uncovering Rhetorical Action in Moche Burial Rituals” in Rhetorics of the Americas 3114 BCE to 2012 CE G. claims that studying cultures on their own terms is the future of ancient non-Western rhetorical historiography.  In this piece she will demonstrate what that looks like. The use of symbols inscribed on material artifiacts will be the main means of meeting Pre-Columbian... Read More

Enos – Roman Rhetoric: Revolution and the Greek Influence

Richard Enos – Roman Rhetoric: Revolution and the Greek Influence Chapter One: Forces Shaping the Transition from Greek to Roman Rhetoric Chapter One is concerned with offering an explanation of the political and social forces that motivated Athens to promote rhetoric not only at home but in colonies and among allies in Sicily and Southern Italy.  The movement of rhetoric to Rome itself wasn’t so much a direct relationship between Athens and... Read More

Jarratt & Ong – Aspasia: Rhetoric, Gender, and Colonial Ideology

Jarratt & Ong – “Aspasia: Rhetoric, Gender, and Colonial Ideology” In this piece the authors hope to address the first two of Gorgias’ questions from On the Nonexistent with respect to Aspasia:  Did Aspasia exist?  Can she be known?  They’ll do this by considering classical sources and contemporary commentary.  Afterwards they will ask the 3rd question from Gorgias’ ontological argument: Is knowledge of Aspasia communicable? ... Read More

Hutto – Ancient Egyptian Rhetoric in the Old and Middle Kingdoms

Hutto – “Ancient Egyptian Rhetoric in the Old and Middle Kingdoms” Abstract: The rhetorical ideas inherited from the Greeks have establishedthe notion that skilled use of language is always indicated by eloquent expression, and that silence is either an aberration or a lack of skill. As we penetrate the silence that has surrounded one of the great civilizations of the earth, however, and look at Egyptian rhetoric, we find alternative views on... Read More

Lipson – Ancient Egyptian Rhetoric: It All Comes Down to Maat

Lipson – “Ancient Egyptian Rhetoric: It All Comes Down to Maat” In this article Lipson argues that the ancient Egyptian cultural concept of maat is central in considering Egyptian rhetoric.  Specifically she will demonstrate that: 1) a number of the popular textual genres present Maat as content – that is, they teach Maat; 2) In the letter genre, common in the everyday life of the culture, the rhetorical form embodies Maat: the written texts... Read More