Speaking on Behalf of Others: Rhetorical Agency and Epideictic Functions in Official Apologies
Research output: Contribution to journal › Journal article › Research › peer-review
Standard
Speaking on Behalf of Others : Rhetorical Agency and Epideictic Functions in Official Apologies. / Villadsen, Lisa Storm.
In: Rhetoric Society Quarterly, Vol. 38, No. 1, 2008, p. 25-45.Research output: Contribution to journal › Journal article › Research › peer-review
Harvard
APA
Vancouver
Author
Bibtex
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
T1 - Speaking on Behalf of Others
T2 - Rhetorical Agency and Epideictic Functions in Official Apologies
AU - Villadsen, Lisa Storm
PY - 2008
Y1 - 2008
N2 - The official apology is a discursive phenomenon with complex rhetorical significance and must be distinguished from the apologia. The main difference is that the official apology entails an element of regret and acknowledgement of wrongdoing that makes it an even more delicate rhetorical matter than the apologia – not least becasue it involves a collectivity such as a nation state. The symbolic nature of the assumption of guilt is therefore particularly clear. This article argues that official apologies, however circumscribed by public skecpticism, nevertheless may serve important functions as loci for articulating the norms of a society at a given time. The article discusses how the official apology raises a host of issues concerning rhetorical agency and argues that this particular type of rhetoric is a promising point of departure in the ongoing pedagogical and theoretical exploration of the concept of rhetorical agency. By integrating theories of epideictic rhetoric and of rhetorical agency, the complexity of the official apology is analyzed, and through a reading og an official apology by the Danish Prime minister, the essay examines how rhetorical agency is both established and undercut by the speaker.
AB - The official apology is a discursive phenomenon with complex rhetorical significance and must be distinguished from the apologia. The main difference is that the official apology entails an element of regret and acknowledgement of wrongdoing that makes it an even more delicate rhetorical matter than the apologia – not least becasue it involves a collectivity such as a nation state. The symbolic nature of the assumption of guilt is therefore particularly clear. This article argues that official apologies, however circumscribed by public skecpticism, nevertheless may serve important functions as loci for articulating the norms of a society at a given time. The article discusses how the official apology raises a host of issues concerning rhetorical agency and argues that this particular type of rhetoric is a promising point of departure in the ongoing pedagogical and theoretical exploration of the concept of rhetorical agency. By integrating theories of epideictic rhetoric and of rhetorical agency, the complexity of the official apology is analyzed, and through a reading og an official apology by the Danish Prime minister, the essay examines how rhetorical agency is both established and undercut by the speaker.
KW - Faculty of Humanities
KW - officiel undskyldning
KW - retorisk agency
KW - epideiktiske funktioner
KW - Anders Fogh Rasmussen
KW - official apology
KW - rhetorical agency
KW - epideictic functions
KW - Anders Fogh Rasmussen
U2 - 10.1080/02773940701779769
DO - 10.1080/02773940701779769
M3 - Journal article
VL - 38
SP - 25
EP - 45
JO - Rhetoric Society Quarterly
JF - Rhetoric Society Quarterly
SN - 0277-3945
IS - 1
ER -
ID: 2737003