Rhetorical Unconsciousness and Political Psychoanalysis M. Lane Bruner.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Bruner, Michael Lane, 1958- author.

Series:

Studies in rhetoric/communication.

Studies in rhetoric/communication

Language:

English

Physical Description:

1 online resource (245 pages).

Edition:

1st ed.

Manufacture:

Baltimore, Md. : Project MUSE, 2019

Place of Publication:

Columbia, SC : University of South Carolina Press, 2019.

Summary:

"The term rhetoric, no doubt, is broadly misunderstood. Most are ignorant of the term, as classically conceived in ancient Greece and Rome, and those aware of the term tend to associate it with self-interested spin if not cynical deception: mere rhetoric. While a partially correct assumption, since many do deploy the arts of persuasion intentionally for unenlightened ends, this is an incomplete and improper understanding of the rhetorical. In fact whatever persuades us is rhetorical, and rhetoric, as historically conceived across the ages, is the art, for better and worse, of intentional persuasion. Persuasion obviously can be manipulative, leading to derealization and unwise policy, but persuasion can also contribute to realization and wise policy"-- Provided by publisher.

"Rhetorical Unconsciousness and Political Psychoanalysis investigates unintentional forms of persuasion, their political consequences, and our ethical relation to the same. M. Lane Bruner argues that the unintentional ways we are persuaded are far more important than intentional persuasion; in fact all intentional persuasion is built on the foundations of rhetorical unconsciousness, whether we are persuaded through ignorance (the unsayable), unconscious symbolic processes (the unspoken), or productive repression (the unspeakable). Bruner brings together a wide range of theoretical approaches to unintentional persuasion, establishing the locations of such persuasion and providing examples taken from the Western European transition from feudalism to capitalism. To be more specific, phenomena related to artificial personhood and the commodity self have led to transformations in material culture from architecture to theater, showing how rhetorical unconsciousness works to create symptoms. Bruner then examines ethical considerations, the relationships among language in use, unconsciousness, and the seemingly irrational aspects of cultural and political history."-- Provided by publisher.

Contents:

Cover

Rhetorical Unconsciousness and Political Psychoanalysis

Title

Copyright

Dedication

Contents

Series Editor's Preface

An Introduction to Rhetorical Unconsciousness

CHAPTER 1. Conscious and Unconscious Rhetoric

CHAPTER 2. The Ontical Structure of Rhetorical Unconsciousness

CHAPTER 3. Artificial Personhood

CHAPTER 4. The Commodity Self

CHAPTER 5. Secular Theology and Realization

Conclusion: Agency and Realization

Notes

References

Index.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Description based on print version record.

ISBN:

1-61117-984-X

OCLC:

1089278897