New Approaches to Rhetoric (review)

New Approaches to Rhetoric is an anthology of original essays by 19 well-known theorists and critics. Among them are members of the communication discipline who are compelling their peers and students to reconsider what rhetoric is and what rhetorical criticism does. A glance at the book's contents, then, promises an interesting, useful text. Unfortunately, although much that indeed interests a rhetorician can be extracted, the book as a whole fails to establish a clear reason for being—either as a professional reference or as a textbook.

The book's preface is brief; the book lacks an introduction. As a result, the editors send readers into three categories of essays without knowing either why these categories were chosen or for whose benefit the essays in them have been assembled. Frankly, by the book's end, I think many readers will remain puzzled. The material offered by the publisher on the book's back cover provides the best clues. Part 1 of the book investigates the possibility of "moral arguments" in the twenty-first century; part 2 offers "real-life case studies"; and part 3 features "ideological approaches." The essays are, according to the blurb, "ideal for upper-level undergraduate courses in political communication in departments of communication, English, and political science." Knowing the book's organizational strategy, however, is not the same as granting that there is a basis for that strategy. The editors needed to provide one. And knowing the book's audience does not mean that the book works for that audience. Although some essays would be more effective than others for the suggested audience and although almost all essays have something in them that might appeal, the book as a whole is not informed by a clear sense of its audience. Most essays are written in a manner that would not engage an advanced undergraduate or even a graduate student. These readers, I'm afraid, would be constantly asking the authors to "cut to the chase."

Barry Brummett's essay, which is presented as part of part 3 but is really a conclusion to the book as a whole, almost redeems the anthology by giving it focus. Brummett argues that twenty-first-century rhetoric may be characterized by being "relatively more imaginary, commodified, local, and dialectic" (295) than that which preceded it. He then summarizes the 12 essays in the book with these touchstones in mind, sometimes shoehorning the essays into his structure. Nonetheless, he does provide coherence. One wonders why Brummett's essay did not introduce the book.

Following Brummett's lead would not, however, have solved all of the book's problems. Although most of the essays have a core that a fellow rhetorician would find interesting, most of the essays are prolix. The editors needed to wield their green pens more; they needed to tell the writers that they were not proceeding forward in a manner that compelled readers, especially students, to follow. At times, the authors seem adrift, not knowing to what end and to what audience they are writing. The editors needed to communicate the book's purpose and target readership much more to the authors.

Adrift, the authors have a difficult time conveying their ideas. And this is indeed unfortunate, for the authors have interesting ideas to convey.

Part 1 of the book is the loosest. It contains James Darsey's discussion of James Baldwin, which demonstrates how the African American author had to find a place outside of the United States in order to find himself and "a language capable of encompassing and celebrating" (28) the nation's diversity. Kathryn M. Olson and G. Thomas Goodnight then discuss how citizens of Prince William County, Virginia, resisted a Disney theme park using a different kind of rhetoric designed to find common ground and preserve community. The authors argue that this rhetoric was the product of ingenium, not invention. George Cheney's "deconstruction" of market-oriented discourse culminates in a case...