The Evolution of Rhetoric Through the Ages
Historical Evolution
1. Rhetoric in the Middle Ages:
– Rhetoric is increasingly losing weight compared to dialectic and grammar.
– However, the desire to safeguard the classics keeps rhetoric alive, mostly in the fields of the arts and religion.
– Rhetoric and its relationship with the poetic are also present in the Middle Ages, as Spang says, “both versified texts and prose writing are considered forms of eloquence.”
2. Rhetoric in the Renaissance:
– Rhetoric and poetics remain closely linked.
– The persuasive end, a fundamental objective of rhetoric, is equally prevalent in literature, whose final aim is to delight and teach (delectare et docere).
– At this time, the discipline arouses great interest, and there is plenty of literary production about it.
3. Rhetoric in the Baroque:
– In the Baroque period, interest in rhetoric decreases.
– In the 17th century, the doctrine enters a phase of decline, although all authors know it perfectly.
– However, in this century, a school of rhetoric is created by the Jesuits. Consequently, it is clear that both poets and scholars continue learning and mastering their rules.
4. Rhetoric in the 17th Century:
– Despite the decline on one hand and attempts to regenerate on the other, rhetoric is still maintained within the liberal arts.
– It begins the awareness of the necessary differentiation between rhetoric and poetics: they are still treated simultaneously, but the differences are accentuated.
5. Rhetoric in the 19th Century:
– With the transition between the 18th and 19th centuries from Neoclassicism to Romanticism, a period very contrary to rhetoric’s attitude is experienced. This is in line with the contempt for the rules and creative freedom without obstacles typical of the era.
– Rhetoric is conceived as a “deceitful manipulation, hypocritical, hollow, and public language.”
– This decline of rhetoric also means a greater separation from poetry. Increasingly, rhetoric is just identified with literature, practically disappearing until the middle of the next century.
6. Rhetoric in the 20th Century: In the last quarter of the century, there are signs of a revival of rhetoric studies in Spain:
– This is related to the rebirth of the doctrine in the 50s in the United States, France, and West Germany.
– It is these countries that, as an expansion and modernization, both their methods and their goals are introduced again.
6.1. In addition to armed conflicts and their political systems, the cause of this advance is mainly due to the radical change in the socio-technological circumstances experienced by these three world powers:
– The war.
– The media.
– The omnipotent influence of advertising.
– Etc.
Everything leads to the creation of a specific and very multifaceted industry: Advertising rhetoric.
6.2. Spang highlights three closely related concepts that represent this new rhetoric:
– Innovation: rhetoric applies the knowledge of other sciences such as psychology, communication, computing, etc. This is what is known as New Rhetoric.
– Formalization: this aspect of the New Rhetoric focuses on “giving body” to this current theory, attempting to create a new classification of classical rhetorical figures and tropes, an expanding list in which we will deepen throughout the course.
– Pragmatism: It has an educational purpose (teaching rhetoric to the future speaker) and a technical purpose (applying persuasion to this new advertising rhetoric).
6.3. Rhetoric is now:
– A production technique of effective communication but also…
– A way of analyzing communication or speeches that are presented as effective.