The Production of Political Transcendence: Rhetorical Judgment at the Hinges of Public Address

• In Event: Scholar to Scholar II
  In Paper Session: Public Address and Political Issues

Abstract

What is happening in public address when politicians evoke a space beyond partisan politics to invent what are unmistakably political arguments? Drawing together threads of Kenneth Burke’s thoughts on rhetoric, transcendence, and democracy, my paper aims to offer a fresh answer to this question. I describe the contours of a symbolic act I term the “production of political transcendence” and conclude by proposing two suggestions for the appropriate judgment of such productions.

Author

• Antonio de Velasco, Univ of Memphis