Discover millions of ebooks, audiobooks, and so much more with a free trial

Only $11.99/month after trial. Cancel anytime.

Voices in the Wilderness: Public Discourse and the Paradox of Puritan Rhetoric
Voices in the Wilderness: Public Discourse and the Paradox of Puritan Rhetoric
Voices in the Wilderness: Public Discourse and the Paradox of Puritan Rhetoric
Ebook331 pages5 hours

Voices in the Wilderness: Public Discourse and the Paradox of Puritan Rhetoric

Rating: 0 out of 5 stars

()

Read preview

About this ebook

What has gone wrong with discourse and deliberation in the United States? It remains monologic, argues Patricia Roberts-Miller in Voices in the Wilderness, which traces America’s dominant form of argumentation back to its roots in the rhetorical tradition of 17th-century American Puritans. A work of composition theory, rhetorical theory, and cultural criticism, this volume ultimately provides not only new approaches to argumentation and the teaching of rhetoric, composition, and communication but also an original perspective on the current debate over public discourse
Both Jürgen Habermas and Wayne Booth—two of the most influential theorists in the domain of public discourse and good citizenry—argue for an inclusive public deliberation that involves people who are willing to listen to one another, to identify points of agreement and disagreement, and to make good faith attempts to validate any disputed claims. The Puritan voice crying in the wilderness, Roberts-Miller shows, does none of these things. To this individual of conscience engaged in a ceaseless battle of right and wrong against greedy philistines, all inclusion, mediation, and reciprocity are seen as evil, corrupting, and unnecessary. Hence, the voice in the wilderness does not in any real sense participate in public deliberation, only in public pronouncement.
Arguing that our culture’s continuing affection for the ethos of the voice crying in the wilderness is one of our more troubling inheritances from the early American ambivalence to public discourse—including the Puritan denigration of rhetoric—Roberts-Miller contends that the monologic discourse of the Puritans in fact contains within it arguments for dialogism. Thus, the history of rhetoric can provide much richer fields for reimagining discourse than heretofore credited. Roberts-Miller concludes by extending her findings into their practical applications for argumentation in the public sphere and in the composition classroom.
LanguageEnglish
Release dateJun 30, 2014
ISBN9780817387587
Voices in the Wilderness: Public Discourse and the Paradox of Puritan Rhetoric
Author

Patricia Roberts-Miller

Patricia Roberts-Miller, PhD, is professor emeritus of rhetoric and writing, and the former director of the University Writing Center at University of Texas at Austin. She has been teaching the subject of demagoguery since 2002, and is the author of Demagoguery and Democracy, Speaking of Race, Voices in the Wilderness, Deliberate Conflict, Fanatical Schemes, and Rhetoric and Demagoguery. She lives in Texas.

Read more from Patricia Roberts Miller

Related to Voices in the Wilderness

Related ebooks

Literary Criticism For You

View More

Related articles

Reviews for Voices in the Wilderness

Rating: 0 out of 5 stars
0 ratings

0 ratings0 reviews

What did you think?

Tap to rate

Review must be at least 10 words

    Book preview

    Voices in the Wilderness - Patricia Roberts-Miller

    s1^book_preview_excerpt.html}ێv$nزtHIP(Q(rH9kH[$̇'lSmRϣL™U1P5QRp'䟕(!0* 'R5Aɴ`n}eֶPa!?$ SM߶a4g fJ#;V9{DYdtFDZ{ }9*v3lrcoigzS0%xWR"X!nX<ì+hNKYE^[>QLߐoK2vjiD"w2@v&ΟT7M8f9BIlO[ue wUX/ʊ傇%퇖24A4и4fT2:L2SՌ$~Zv|X+ g{{`%}am>TW&'l< Ah|ye)%MkZ&s$$?$]|JɭlTd5m +RJC_ƕafB0&5k<'.([bT̸+ZZ1:zwQQc&4bcTiϢ)\ׁ6>Rl&xMÍ#.a1ٹut5Z_ӡ=p'e, C>o]Vf=llgQqGX۠IyP'*>lGslehF4k,:u>OB"7CX{]\RCN}>` AoRa=gM^ 6* sĜA ^Aͼ8NQ5,JDGڮR; ӾJ!^8@el#HFq&ä?N1kIu5M5۹HZhs*\`Bc.ak]0@֩ysGѝ A],,ACŚoh! [覕$CisqOg D\ Gzg32̰pWpn@ 'cL14 G']03crAG'~)V:2kH}TP(bajl<A" ahڞOʴ!YP\\ ֌ 5ǔ xq_8 H CRR "#p;A)( Kz|>}®WOQ<.& \B>s{po+ &9އwC^+}*w(9.nmuIIG^#r`svNR4va';x,r n?8B_Ԗ%iVQ7yay 4j>hkU;b9\Ľa$1ydx :诟f͖P9b ":-?%@ܩ%dVa!68 Vm]!dE.}𖽦=YSPLdx}PfcoVaG'QYiz>H=+&!tԙYSZCNf4q+xKÜ^<GDa$@X13Ċa%5SjDئT#`v]N8[$J,LJ =HBb tr d`7vA}VIG#32"#&tX ~"$h`?91(IY*BZ%)IJw1-)wa۔K5p܃911ĘQ3 X! !VLipSS}o qL#[ DN)Yl]0FԮ.H^T\yA CЈfρқbXILc]XOV$fǯZG7A B# [9-lyIU׫^nUTSJ6%h~u^n~2C ~S^NЧ_O1٘1[n(P#;!l|!xBAy,{:j(嵷'n&LO6 k]Zrf+^%e)pP~@ Luu!I~Y(Cy8M{q%R%zPq $Іoё(T)~[%WZ &1[A}. ƿ8ۯ/TP+VTZId$ fNb.ś~S|COSzjzM-K\ɁbLg7e)hS] 9 o7盿>Ywl=ӾJOnU6ׂ :&£QRc4ˡ ݫE3CРcO7ڂ-eY ,~ԛ9K$3kV{(t IZ?@Z=fR ě{5nV7`L08 >6<ˣ{:;x"@!Va; /1_8PN 揭dIV,3TB"ZFrdMSZ1 ,/fH;&D18*2^&%?`T n6Z҃3=Gam71N~[:4-bFG972<-;N{ NS3wKlc[R1S>NfQ ^Р @# >"9PV.͕JTkV-hj'O ]$iuj51ogVJyI`UcHJ4Jj=ފtv-Ĉo :¥sr{;*x+-VW{`F_$Ytm̈́'zľ7a'k[A%r2BU\3MӃ 8kL\^=Z?f s43Vd$DPg@liY'Bၻk$pF쓣U%9*[&~+9έ"[ E3`T!Տݮ`c~ICaiXuÝT@WɃld2HRe~eMbN+:¿1_=]Gv'R K\saOKh['f¿A n®i 8+7EhenGb>XZL5Nq1oxS5Cnp%={ X='FBYmdž^R0's*6)Bj>KUggjjoM^u͢bjdĜ2|5˜QIqi}v RTDT)Z\Q3'FU,SLZ/j:YvZ61H[QXSP)җ*s+WV0 $p`!X^{6ꁁU[ʚJIqf% :~?DI e 4F:0T#\f$¸I XlՈ0u{ڥ ETa yY&\YDg Z75_j<{XK OQu`S ݲKj.k Xaj)|`Gtaz1HNNja()<|^X]⨡sCe#L<uH~zBQΟOa{9]T0ha..;i}Ij@Hjvu\*Uhw<A=kݤ'0;vS_f1^4rXIdƧb7JyV鱤mKf* CvTHu26{H.;WY7S29"(=+CNJρ_*EIU-08\c:91>59S,y}#C&oFy F-™rz qȅS2,Kișu* jܫV;5@KR몁7.Ob]N+?J)0bxS:1߰Jo(MnNkJN\4vl,~&=/(2dwgM>Wt\]r hgW#RV8.Qw'pj Xƨo"[Q@*g}}’ R!Uy4CF{.Nܖi,jsWoRN`<)9@'B֡ԷH|HQ+7rJRʑK8c(0:TuTIО veFzF=l-E,w.P%/SN L0xe{8&pɽ0XLBk|{) (*Y7d(+/4::P WK}쾑J̼ TxʼAkc&?rb泞1GY$*,lM?k9͊kU 1:3eB]=b~,X5ʹ; }mJE -t%:s,ؠ iH&␣5=eɌY&Fdlq,{ [^efܭ; .;d}"|t4kyR.Z*[pjnk%'DG7IWxYYVXY[tIrTXQy f)eY{CN[ElrncK WXp3R7"qsa"V/a]~cBNCNuYRC} U{jf Hp+|'\|\]0[p ůvRnf9XGwQ4Jɱ$愸lWdӵn,z*Q^`w /0lqx^=z?vnp KZ}AɒC{&q0֙1yҕlX@AMcf*X04Wٳ湈vE:EH&Mљ̧ buF/s 'T []\upWqm*GW:qO5D XW_}___.bwt$YOQ'F!wIbݲ*%9T, }1+=7!I.ʞM?˙Li-+Um] \/YK ٘5Hg^= / zϧ7%( JfUYϘܦ{m3-)K,-n-uv zaoQA#@z*^)+H͑weB$rNdY=*ȳyr-\}JH$]YtV)z/oT,*ɖJx\/nK =A/2 -=DNV_S^ء0_wD;yT^H-..B")HMz s䵆z_2Q0Ϟ]*8>i"9ʻ JNykr"[-J8Ux8Jin]{^YE.UM)(9 [&HbkRTfn:E0%~rQk(ӝw6߲eepv%Rov~=X=i!H֬WJd%WvZ7!0j֜XxTX=+QR@UD)+c]RA@:S_++H:)KTDd̡;) kd$'j<S1 srxĨ5 '_bZVks'tU߹흆At.1K.={x Xdq˦di\P-%ImҀP ߆7p ap%M4,ZW=uP&-?a㿪.R9 Se(p|-TݻUn]+U+k~egE8^suOMs0y"5nJ9]NSp3fcHm!CŊ{qs ۝;|j=hOY/-Wz?l% ^"w{rX XK1Ż6C:fY ; ug7.0^g}^;ҳr'U&?SZyָ.m!\NN<Z.՞ AոKS+], pPy9tw]/(  Hk)&Rx!G)|Q%y)UsjyXTzržhtTMP$ Z~,C?x=m;)j8_W*@l~rww"EOZ#ߠIb#zM{jLE O)Ǚ3,8ٰƤ4|]9%) L*돈B/McIkh1DS58R tIlDDu+!ݙ3d2uɢ:0իA={yl΄'#Bд?7..%,ZX1UU>7('w@_J]@*ߕ()IXYx"+@ey+e>y|KoYeu5(n;JWzi57%%KS;r5Rl
    Enjoying the preview?
    Page 1 of 1