International Encyclopedia of Communication Online

Extract

This entry presents an overview of recent rhetorical studies by scholars from universities in Central and South America, where there is a renewed interest in this field. Generally, rhetorical studies in Central and South America are concerned with the main theoretical notions of literary criticism in antiquity; the application of such notions to the analysis of Greek and Roman classical texts (→  Rhetoric, Greek ; Rhetoric, Roman ); the influence of classical rhetoric on Latin American thought and literature from the discovery of the New World; and →  Discourse Analysis , especially according to modern linguistic theories. Central American scholars have recently pursued ancient literary theory and documented its influence on historical and contemporary →  Discourse . For instance, Campuzano (1980) has explored pre-Platonic poetics, and Sparisci Loviselli (2003) has addressed the relation of classical rhetoric to Costa Rican oratory. Critical analysis of contemporary rhetorical discourse is also represented; typical of this scholarship is Alvarez's assessment of the oratory of Jose Marti. Within South America , perhaps the most extensive body of rhetorical studies relates to principles of ancient rhetoric and literary theory (→  Rhetoric and Poetics ). Among these studies, Chichi (2002) has identified and investigated the functions of rhetorical and dialectical resources ... log in or subscribe to read full text