The statement: Foundation of Foucault's historical criticism

Beginning with an overview of his approach to the study of historical systems of thought, this essay makes the claim that Michel Foucault's views of historical criticism and language‐in‐use have a great deal to offer rhetorical theory and criticism. More important, it argues that, if we are to assess Foucault's archaeological method in terms of its value for rhetorical criticism, an understanding of Foucault's notion of discourse is vital. Discussions of the three‐dimensional nature of discourse, together with an examination and illustration of the characteristics of the fundamental discursive datum, the statement, suggest a more extensive exploration of Foucault's corpus.

Notes

This essay is based partially upon the author's doctoral dissertation, “An Archaeological Critique of the History of Rhetorical Theory: Beyond Historical‐Critical Dualism in the Analysis of Theoretical Discourse,” the Pennsylvania State University, 1983, directed by Gerard A. Hauser.