Contemporary Perspectives on Rhetoric, 30th Anniversary Edition

The anniversary edition marks thirty years of offering an indispensable review and analysis of thinkers who have exerted a profound influence on contemporary rhetorical theory: I. A. Richards, Ernesto Grassi, Chaïm Perelman and Lucie Olbrechts-Tyteca, Stephen Toulmin, Richard Weaver, Kenneth Burke, Jürgen Habermas, bell hooks, Jean Baudrillard, and Michel Foucault. The brief biographical sketches locate the theorists in time and place, showing how life experiences influenced perspectives on rhetorical thought. The concise explanations of complex concepts are clear, engaging, insightful, and highly accessible, serving as an excellent primer for reading the major works of these scholars. The critical commentary is carefully chosen to highlight implications and to place the theories within a broader rhetorical context. Each chapter ends with a complete bibliography of works by the theorists.

Titles of related interest from Waveland Press: Foss et al., Readings in Contemporary Rhetoric (ISBN 9781577662068): Hauser, Introduction to Rhetorical Theory, 2E (ISBN 9781577662211); and Smith, Rhetoric and Human Consciousness: A History, Fifth Edition (ISBN 9781478634546).