James A. Berlin and Social-Epistemic Rhetorics

Victor J. Vitanza

Description

The field of rhetoric and composition has, at last, received a long-lost message delivered in the form of Victor J. Vitanza’s seminar on James A. Berlin. In this book that is an untext on Berlin’s work and its impact on the field, Vitanza acquaints us with Berlin by virtue of many Berlins, in multiplicity, and via the figure of an “excluded third” that wants to deliver to us a new message that was undelivered from Berlin to us, and from Vitanza to Berlin, after Berlin’s untimely death in 1994. A seminar on a seminar on the teaching of writing . . . it is teaching all the way down. They met at the historical NEH seminar at Carnegie Mellon in 1978. Their friendship and rhetorical dialogues spanned only sixteen years, but Vitanza continues the conversation through the seminar, through this book (rife with reflections and, yes, homework for his readers), and through our reception of it. It is up to us now to carry it forward. As Vitanza writes, “I would prefer not to not think that what remains unsaid stays undelivered.”

Informations

• Publié par: Parlor Press, LLC
• Date de parution: 16 janvier 2021
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781643172217
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 2 Mo

Extrait

JAMES A. BERLIN AND SOCIAL-EPISTEMIC RHETORICS

A SEMINAR

VICTOR J. VITANZA

James A. Berlin and Social-Epistemic Rhetorics A Seminar

James A. Berlin

A Seminar

JAMES A. BERLIN AND SOCIAL-EPISTEMIC RHETORICS

Victor J. Vitanza

Parlor Press Anderson, South Carolina www.parlorpress.com

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978-1-64317-220-0 (paperback) 978-1-64317-221-7 (pdf ) 978-1-64317-222-4 (epub)

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Foreword ix

Introduction 13

Week #1 19

Week #2 24

Week #3 33

Week #4 46

Week #5 51

Week #6 55

Week #7 65

Week #8 71

Week #9 81

Week #10 91

Week #11 102

Weeks #12–13 112

Weeks #14–15 113

Appendices 116

Contents

v

For Jim and our students

Foreword

The “IT” of It All en “IT” appened, I was teacîng, conductîng a semînar on retorîc wît a large group aloud W ît. Tere’s a partîcular passage tat stîcks, wîll ever stîck, în my mînd. Te artîcle, îf from of umanîtîes students. One of te students ad brougt copîes of teNYTimes Maga zineartîcle on Jacques Derrîda. We spent te openîng moments of te semînar readîng ît as a topoî, îs “te experîence of te împossîble,” Tat îs, te experîence of deat. In te artîcle Derrîda tînks outlaîd about deat, îs deat. He says: “It îs true tat I’m obsessed wît deat. I am at every mînute attentîve to te possîbîlîty tat în te followîng our I wîll be dead and te person I am wît wîll say, ‘I was just în te room wît I’m, and e îs dead.’”

About fîfteen mînutes later, my wîfe, Tonî, knocked on te door of te semînar room were I was rumînatîng on te topos lîfe îs a “tîssue of contîngencîes” (I was tînkîng out loud about Rîcard Rorty’s prase în contîngency, îrony, and solîdarîty). I opened tat door and Tonî called me outsîde to te all. Se told me tat Janîce Lauer ad requested tat se fînd me îmmedîately to let me know wat? Tat JB ad dîed of a eart attack.

I lost “ît.” Now, I must fînd ît agaîn. But ow and were? Openîng. . . . You step out of a room. . . . A message îs delîvered. . . . You return to te room, and yet you don’t. And you say, I saîd, to my class, tat I could not contînue. I explaîned tat I was just în my lîfe wît a frîend, and now e îs dead.

It wîll ave taken me a long, long tîme to wrestle wît tîs angel, left, far left unsaîd. After all, you and I bot know, all too well, tat împossîbîlîty wîll by necessîty remaîn, even îf saîd, wîll remaîn undelîvered. In a sense—but I ope not în all senses, undelîvered. I would prefer not to not tînk tat wat remaîns unsaîd stays undelîvered.

In tese sîtuatîons tat we fînd ourselves trown înto, by cance? We (sould I sîmply say “I”) need to try to get our (my) bearîngs. Bot publîc and prîvate.