Rhetoric and Ideology Flashcards

Flashcards on Rhetoric and Ideology

Dominant ideology (Althusser)

A worldview that maintains the status quo, favoring the dominant group.

The Superstructure

Social institutions and ideas that reinforce dominant ideologies (RSA and ISA)

Repressive State Apparatus (RSA)

Enforces dominant ideologies through physical, governmental, and legal coercion.

Ideological State Apparatus (ISA)

Reinforces dominant viewpoints through social norms and often unquestioned beliefs, that are often taken for granted without force or oppression.

Negotiated ideology

Acceptance of the dominant ideology with personal modifications based on unique experiences and identity.

Oppositional ideology

A worldview that directly challenges, refuses, and rejects the dominant ideology.

Hegemony (Gramsci)

The continuous reproduction of authoritative meanings and practices.

Identification

Persuading someone by speaking their language and aligning your views with theirs.

Terministic screens

How our language choices shape our perceptions and reveal our intentions.

Pentad (Burke)

Divides rhetorical situations into 5 elements: Act, Scene, Agent, Agency, Purpose.

Ideology

A set of meanings that structure a group’s culture and its understanding of the world.

Human agency

The capacity of individuals to act and make a difference, despite social constraints.

Exigence (Bitzer)

A problem that can be resolved or assisted by discourse.

Audience (Bitzer)

The people capable of taking action in response to an exigence.

Constraints (Bitzer)

Factors that can limit or modify a decision and action needed to address the exigence.

Ideology (in Discourse)

The idea that all discourse is inherently shaped by ideology.

Dialogue (Bakhtin)

The concept that our words are influenced by prior meanings and anticipate responses from others.

Politics (in Language)

The concept that language is political because it constructs meaning and reflects intentions.

Polyphonic Novel (Bakhtin)

Examining each character in a novel to discover the best possible avenues of truth.

Representation

An entity that stands in the place of and speaks for someone or something else; the production of messages, images, or meanings that re-presents a culture.

Discourse (Foucault)

A system of statements that provides a language for understanding a particular topic or historical moment.

Discursive formation

When a discourse gains significant authority, shaping knowledge and understanding on a cultural issue.

Discursive context

The relationship between representation and power.

Social location

An individual's placement in society based on demographics and power dynamics.

Archaeology of Knowledge (Foucault)

A culture’s collective discourse; differences in knowledge imply differences in power distribution.

Excluded discourse

Discourse that is prohibited, controlling the topics and language used.

Goals of feminist criticism

Seeks symbolic expressions significant in women’s lives.

Non-persuasive notion of communication (Gearhart)

Communication as information for or assistance to others, rather than persuasion.

Invitational rhetoric (Foss & Griffin)

An invitation to understanding rooted in equality, immanent values, and self-determination.

Racial rhetorical criticism (Flores)

Hearing race, seeing race, and representational politics of race including bodies and racial violence.

Vernacular rhetoric (Ono & Sloop)

Speech that resonates within local communities.

Women's experiences are different from men's

Research in rhetoric has focused on men’s experiences

Women’s voices are not heard in language

By being denied access to rhetoric, women are denied access to power