The Present State of Scholarship in the History of Rhetoric: A Twenty-First Century Guide (review)

The topoi of scholarly invention dwell largely in the arguments of our colleagues. As rhetoric study expands into new venues, and new arguments and counterarguments arise, research must respond adequately to changes in the field's topical map. Which is why good bibliographies in rhetoric are not mere lists; they distinguish themselves as artifacts of careful intellectual judgment amidst a changing terrain in which the term "rhetoric" itself remains slippery and contested.

The evaluative dimension of bibliography announces itself clearly in the third edition of The Present State of Scholarship in the History of Rhetoric, edited by Lynée Lewis Gaillet with Winifred Bryan Horner. (Horner was the sole editor of the first two editions, also published by Missouri, in 1983 and 1990.) Gaillet promises a book that will not simply amend earlier editions, but will "recast the condition of study in the history of rhetoric" (vii). Along these lines, the six contributors focus greater attention than had their predecessors (only Don Paul Abbott returns as a contributor from the second edition) on women in rhetoric, on "rhetorical practices outside the academy, and on discussions of nonwhite and non-Western rhetorical practices" (ix). Present State easily delivers on its promise to overhaul earlier editions. It advances the field into new territory, and effectively challenges common lore associated with the history of rhetoric. Chapters on classical rhetoric and the eighteenth century stand out as particularly useful in this regard.

As it extends the range of scholarly invention in certain directions, however, the book limits this range as well, and does so in ways that reveal a distinctly negative consequence for the place of public address research. Since these limits are most pronounced in the volume's final two chapters, and since they seem to emerge as a result of broader forces tied to rhetoric study's split between disciplinary communities in English (composition) and Communication (speech), I review the earlier chapters before turning to my chief concerns.

In "The Classical Period," Lois Agnew catalogs both longstanding and new translations of primary works in Greco-Roman rhetoric, before dividing secondary scholarship into categories that nicely cover the diversity of current research—she discusses work focused on areas such as gender ("women and rhetoric"), cultural geography ("ancient rhetoric beyond the West"), tradition ("revisiting the canon"), and teaching ("classical rhetoric and pedagogy"). Turning to chapter 2, "The Middle Ages," Denise Stodola makes an often-overlooked period of rhetoric seem not only interesting, but inviting and ripe for greater investigation. Her section on "definition and redefinition of the discipline" and her attempt to name (and suggest ways to address) seven specific areas for further research proves especially helpful. Abbott has significantly revised his entry, "The Renaissance," from the previous edition and included new sections on "women and rhetoric" and "rhetoric and new worlds." Alongside these additions, Abbott does an excellent job (as do most of the contributors) in pointing readers to a host of electronic databases newly available for research. In chapter 4, "The Eighteenth Century," Linda Ferreira-Buckley delivers the book's most eloquent and informative contribution. With a sure grasp of the primary texts, she deepens our sense of the social and philosophical context of eighteenth-century rhetoric. At the same time, she folds her contextual account of the period's rhetoric into a detailed narrative of recent scholarship, including a look at fascinating research into the nonlinguistic materials of rhetorical activity at the time. For chapter 5, "The Nineteenth Century," Gaillet presents sections surveying areas, such as "Asian rhetoric" and "American Indian rhetoric," that have only recently started to gain recognition. The chapter also excels in highlighting how feminist scholarship commands a growing influence on understandings of this period.

Nevertheless, Present State begins to show limits at this same juncture. These limits become apparent when one notes how Gaillet...