The Absent Aesthetic

Abstract

Malcolm Sillars' 1976 statement of the central problems of rhetorical criticism was rooted in the practices of its own time. It did not anticipate the radical decentering of the text, the obsession with power and domination, or the fragmentation of the traditional rhetorical event. While Sillars' ideas are still rich and interesting, the article marks the sea change wrought by three decades in our critical enterprise.

Acknowledgments

An earlier draft of this essay was presented at the annual meeting of the Southern States Communication Association, Dallas, TX, April 3, 2006.

Notes

John Edward Tapia is now a professor at Western Missouri University. His account of Malcolm Sillars is typical. Sillars was universally beloved by his students and colleagues throughout his long career.

I will never forget Ernest Bormann's October 1972 lecture at the University of Arizona. He told me that something big was on the way. Two months later his famous article on “Fantasy Theme Analysis” appeared in the fall issue of The Quarterly Journal of Speech. It became the talk of the discipline for many months.

I recall not merely the sense of what was said but the actual words in their splendid order. Robert L. Scott possesses a unique verbal style and compelling vocal delivery. Thus his exact words are easily recalled because he spoke them with such relish. These quotations are my best recollection of what he said.

Waldo Braden's attitude toward Southern Oratory is too well known to require elaboration here. In brief, he felt that the dominant style note of Southern discourse was escapism. In his judgment the Southerner's well-known fluency and penchant for myth and fantasy came from an inability to face the deep divisions and contradictions in Southern society (King, 2001).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Andrew King

Andrew King, Louisiana State University.