History as rhetoric : style, narrative, and persuasion / Ronald H. Carpenter. [electronic resource]

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Carpenter, Ronald H., 1933-

Series:

Studies in rhetoric/communication

Studies in rhetoric/communication History as rhetoric

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Narration (Rhetoric).

Literary style.

History--Methodology.

History.

Historiography.

Narration (Rhetoric)--Methodology.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (350 p. )

Place of Publication:

Columbia, S.C. : University of South Carolina Press, c1995.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

In the realm of the written word, Ronald Carpenter reserves a privileged place for historical writing. He contends that because of its assumed credibility, historical writing holds sway over the present attitudes and future actions of the general public and world leaders. Through extensive primary-source research into the public and private writings of such well-known and widely read American historians as Frederick Jackson Turner, Alfred Thayer Mahan, and Allan Nevins, Carpenter examines what happens to this inherently credible medium when rhetorical prowess helps shape the writing of history. He also evaluates the power that such discourse exercises on the public at large and on individuals empowered with making public policy.

Carpenter explicates the roles of style and narrative in enabling the writers of history to persuade through "opinion leadership," a process whereby historical writing authoritatively corroborates what people have learned from other sources. Carpenter portrays several American historians as successful opinion leaders who, at pivotal points in time, persuaded readers with their discourse.

Contents:

Ch. 1. On Style and Narrative in History: A Rhetorical Perspective

Pt. I. Historians as Rhetorical Stylists. Ch. 2. Frederick Jackson Turner and the Oratorical Origins of Persuasive Style in the Frontier Thesis. Ch. 3. Carl Becker and the Epigrammatic Force of Style in Epideictic History: An Overt Impact. Ch. 4. Alfred Thayer Mahan's Style in History as a Persuasive Paramessage: A Subtle Impress

Pt. II. The Rhetoric of Narrative in History. Ch. 5. Alfred Thayer Mahan as Opinion Leader for the Japanese Attack on Pearl Harbor: Narrative Fidelity with Fact. Ch. 6. Frank L. Owsley Competes Rhetorically but Unsuccessfully for the Hearts and Minds of the South: Narrative Fidelity and Myth. Ch. 7. Barbara Tuchman, John Kennedy, and Why "The Missiles of October" Did Not Become The Guns of August: Narrative Fidelity from Archetypal Story Form

Pt. III. Historians in a Stream of Time. Ch. 8. History and the Frontier Metaphor for War in American Society: From Syntax through Archetype.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (p. [319]-341) and index.

Bibliographic Level Mode of Issuance: Monograph

ISBN:

0-585-35448-0