Rhetoric as a Sociological Problem

Abstract

This article revisits James Aune's sociological framework for rhetoric in his important but overlooked “Modernity as a Rhetorical Problem.” I situate Aune's essay within the history of sociological and cultural turns in twentieth-century rhetorical theory then unpack his model and its implications for rhetorical study. I argue that Aune's essay provides sociological texture to materialist views of rhetoric and offers a generative framework for addressing institutional, media, and normative structures within which rhetoric emerges. I then go on to address shortcomings in his view of culture, which I supplement with anthropological views consistent with his larger project and its comparative aspirations.

Key Words:

• sociology of rhetoric
• materialist rhetoric
• cultural studies
• twentieth-century rhetorical theory
• James Aune