The genesis of rhetorical action

Abstract

Bitzer's conception of the rhetorical situation is the most prominent current account of the genesis of rhetorical action. While criticism of Bitzer's theory has appeared, widespread use of situational language in rhetorical theory and criticism suggests that these criticisms have yet to be assimilated into our understanding of rhetoric. This essay rejects that viewpoint for adopting an unsatisfying epistemological perspective and neglecting the importance of purpose and agent in the genesis of rhetorical action. Vatz's antithetical account, while adopting a plausible epistemology, is also reductionist. An alternate, Burkean, conception of the genesis of rhetorical action is proposed. Four of Burke's pentadic ratios embody the claim that purpose, scene, agent, and agency are each necessary but not separately sufficient to provide a complete account of the genesis of rhetorical action. By employing Brockriede's notion of perspectivism to this account of rhetorical invention, it obtains all advantages inher...