An exploration into invention in rhetorical criticism.

Critical Questions took a new direction in its approach to rhetorical criticism. We exposed what had been hidden in the practice of criticism: How authors select the object for criticism and the steps they take in doing criticism. For the first time, people who had written rhetorical criticism were asked to discuss the inventional process for a previously published article. As part of the work, Bill, Carole, and I wrote a chapter that attempted to reclaim this lost piece of criticism. More on this chapter later.

The review of the Critical Questions in Critical Studies in Mass Communication is part of their "Worth Reading" section that the editor describes as, "hav[ing] the potential to change the way one understands mass communication." The criteria for books that are selected for inclusion in "Worth Reading" are "recent books that would be generally comprehensible to the other readers of CSMC; would have a high potential for stimulating our readers to explore new approaches or to reexamine old ones; and, in general, are works that clarify rather than obsfucate." An original chapter written by my co-authors and myself, "Professionalization and the Eclipse of Critical Invention," was nominated for the Speech Communication Association’s Golden Anniversary Monograph Award. This juried award is given to the best article or chapter of the year. Critical Questions was the focus of a seminar at Western Communication Association called "'Critical Questions’ In and About Criticism" coordinated by Phil Wander and Wen Shu Lee. The purpose of the conference was to discuss how Critical Questions had affected people’s teaching or practice of criticism. As Wander and Lee write, "We urged people to comment on the difference before and after reading and/or participating in the Nothstine, Blair and Copeland project in one or a combination of the following three areas: Impact on your (our) teaching and/or learning of criticism; Implications for your (our) doing criticism as a scholar; Limits, omissions, silences in the book which you (we) ought to address." Originally 31 people had said they would attend including such nationally known rhetorical critics as Michael Osborn, Bruce Gronbeck, Bob Ivie, Michael Leff, and Marty Medhurst but on the day of the conference double that number registered for the seminar. A copy of the Proceedings from the seminar is available from Phil at Cal State University, San Jose.

Return to Gary's page

Return to the Main TCF page