What is a rhetorical definition. Explanatory Translation Dictionary

The work of Corax has not come down to us, but ancient writers give us examples of his sophisms, of which the so-called crocodile was especially famous. A student of Corax, Lysias, developed the same system of sophistical evidence and considered the memorization of exemplary speeches of judicial orators to be the main means of teaching rhetoric.

Gorgias of Leontius, who was famous in his time, came out of his school, who, according to Plato, “discovered that the probable is more important than the true, and was able in his speeches to present the small as great, and the great as small, to pass off the old as new and recognize the new as old, about one and express conflicting opinions on the same subject. Gorgias' method of teaching also consisted in the study of patterns; each of his students had to know extracts from the works of the best speakers in order to be able to answer the most frequently raised objections. Gorgias owned a curious treatise “On a decent occasion” (ancient Greek. περὶ τοῦ καιροῦ ), which spoke about the dependence of speech on the subject, on the subjective properties of the speaker and the audience, and gave instructions on how to destroy serious arguments with the help of ridicule and, conversely, respond to ridicule with dignity. Beautiful speaking beautiful speech, other Greek εὐέπεια ) Gorgias opposed the assertion of truth ( correct speech, ὀρθοέπεια ).

He put a lot of effort into creating rules regarding figures: metaphors, alliteration, parallelism of parts of a phrase. Many famous rhetors came out of the school of Gorgias: Paul of Agrigent, Likimnius, Thrasymachus, Even, Theodore of Byzantium. The sophists Protagoras and Prodicus and the famous orator Isocrates, who developed the doctrine of the period, belonged to the same stylistic direction of rhetoric.

The direction of this school can be called practical, although it has prepared rich psychological material for the development of general theoretical provisions about oratory, and this facilitated the task of Aristotle, who in his famous "Rhetoric" gives a scientific justification for the old dogmatic rules, using purely empirical methods.

Aristotle's rhetoric

Hellenistic rhetoric

Finding (in Latin terminology - invention) - systematization of the content of speeches and the evidence used in them.
Arrangement (in Latin terminology - disposition) - the division of speech into introduction, presentation, development (proof of one's view and refutation of the opposite) and conclusion.
Verbal expression (in Latin terminology - elocution) - the doctrine of the selection of words, the combination of words, tropes and rhetorical figures, with the help of which the style of speech is formed.
Memorization (in Latin terminology - memoria).
Pronunciation (in Latin terminology - accio).

The doctrine of verbal expression also included the doctrine of three styles: depending on the use of stylistic means - about a simple (low), medium and high style of speech. This theory retained its significance in the Middle Ages and the Renaissance.

ancient rhetoric

In Roman rhetoric, the dispute about Asianism and Atticism continued. The first follower of Asianism of the direction was Hortensius, and later Cicero joined him, speaking, however, in some writings in favor of Atticism. The most elegant representative of Atticism in Roman literature can be considered Julius Caesar.

The development of material in Roman rhetoric was subject to a special ultimate goal, a belief in which three aspects were distinguished - docere (“to teach”, “to inform”), movere(“induce”, “excite passions”), delectare(“entertain”, “pleasure”). Each of them was inextricably linked with the others, but, depending on the circumstances, could occupy a dominant position. The doctrine of the development of the five stages of speech was also inherited.

Late Antique and Medieval Rhetoric

In the era of the struggle of Christianity with ancient paganism, the science of Christian oratory was created, which reached a brilliant development in the centuries AD. e. . An outstanding representative of this oratory- John Chrysostom. In a theoretical sense, medieval rhetoric adds almost nothing to ancient developments, keeps to the rules of Aristotle and later theorists (in the West - Cicero) and only reworks them based mainly on writing letters (messages) and sermons. Everywhere there is a tightening of requirements for compliance with these rules.

Already by the 4th century, the scope of rhetorical norms coincided with the very concept of literature: in the Latin literature of the Middle Ages, rhetoric replaces poetics, firmly forgotten by the medieval tradition. Theorists have wondered whether the material that can be discussed in literary text? A variety of opinions have been expressed on this matter. In general, the maximalist tendency won: at least until the 13th century, any material was within the competence of rhetoric. Following this art, the author, before creating a work, had to form a clear and rational idea ( intellectio) about the intended material. In medieval rhetoric, the doctrine of persuasion as the main task and the three tasks (“teach, encourage, entertain” lat. docere, movere, electare).

The creation of a work, in turn, was divided into three parts or steps (three main elements out of five in the ancient list).

Invention (lat. inventory), there is actually a finding of ideas as creative process. It extracts from the subject all its ideological potential. It presupposes that the author has the corresponding talent, but in itself is purely technique. Its laws determine the attitude of the writer to his material; they imply that every object, every thought can be clearly expressed in a word, and exclude everything inexpressible, as well as the pure impressionistic form. In its main aspect, called "amplification" (lat. amplificatio), it describes ways to move from the implicit to the explicit. At first, amplification was understood as a qualitative shift, but in medieval theory and practice, it usually denoted a quantitative expansion; usually so called various methods of variation: the most developed of them, description (lat. description), which was codified more than once and occupied a central place in Latin literary aesthetics, in the 13th century, without any changes, passed into the genre of the novel, becoming one of its main features.

disposition (lat. dispositio), prescribed the order of the parts. Here the general tendencies of the system were indicated with difficulty. Medieval rhetoric never seriously dealt with the problem of the organic combination of parts. It confines itself to a few empirical and most general prescriptions, defining an aesthetic ideal rather than ways to achieve it. In practice, it takes extraordinary creative power from a medieval poet to overcome this obstacle and achieve harmony and balance in a long text. Often he gets out of the situation by lining up the available elements in accordance with certain numerical proportions: such a practice does not fit into ancient rhetoric, but in the eyes of a medieval cleric it was justified by the existence of numerical "arts", especially music ( musica).

Elocution (lat. elocutio), clothes "ideas", found and explicated by means of invention and organized by means of disposition, in a linguistic form. It served as a kind of normative style and was divided into a number of parts; the most developed of them is the one that is dedicated to decoration, decorated syllable (lat. ornatus), that is, predominantly the theory of rhetorical figures.

Adopting the ideas of ancient mentors, the creators of rhetoric of the XI-XIII centuries focus on amplification and on the doctrine of the decorated syllable, in which they see the very essence of the written word: their activity is reduced mainly to listing and ordering those modes of expression that in their original form already exist in ordinary language; they describe them in functional terms, as a code of syllable types with a high degree probabilities.

In 1920-1950. many medievalists, including E. R. Curtius, believed that the rhetorical model is applicable to all areas of literature, and drew far-reaching conclusions from this hypothesis. In fact, rhetoric reigned supreme in Latin literature, and its influence on poetry in the vernacular was long-lasting, but very uneven.

Byzantium

Rhetoric of the Renaissance and Modern Times

A rigid normative character is established behind European rhetoric, especially in Italy, where, thanks to the meeting of the Latin language of scientists and the Italian language of the people, the theory of three styles is best used. In the history of Italian rhetoric, Bembo and Castiglione occupy a prominent place as stylists. The legislative direction is especially clearly expressed in the activities of the Academy della Crusca, whose task is to protect the purity of the language. In the works, for example, by Sperone Speroni, imitation of Gorgia's techniques in antitheses, the rhythmic structure of speech, the selection of consonances is noticeable, and the Florentine Davanzati notices a revival of atticism.

Only in the Renaissance does Quintilian, whose work was lost in the Middle Ages, become known again.

From Italy, this direction is transferred to France and others European countries. A new classicism in rhetoric is being created, which finds its best expression in Fenelon's Discourse on Eloquence. Any speech, according to Fenelon's theory, must either prove (ordinary style), or paint (medium), or captivate (high). According to Cicero, the oratorical word should approach the poetic; it is not necessary, however, to pile up artificial ornaments. We must try to imitate the ancients in everything; the main thing is clarity and correspondence of speech to feeling and thought. Interesting data for the characterization of French rhetoric can also be found in the history of the French Academy and other institutions that guarded traditional rules.

Similarly, the development of rhetoric in England and Germany throughout the eighteenth century.

Rhetoric in the 19th and 20th century

In this form, rhetoric remained part of liberal education in all European countries until the 19th century. The development of political and other types of eloquence and romantic literature leads to the abolition of the conventional rules of oratory. Traditionally, the most significant part - the doctrine of verbal expression - was dissolved in stylistics as part of the theory of literature, and the remaining sections lost their practical significance. It was then that the word "rhetoric" acquired the odious connotation of pompous idle talk.

The word rhetoric was used for newly created disciplines - prose theory (mainly fiction - XIX century, German philology), stylistics (XX century, French philology), argumentation theory (XX century, Belgian philosopher H. Perelman)

Rhetoric in Modern Russia

In Russia, in the pre-Petrine period of the development of literature, rhetoric could only be used in the field of spiritual eloquence, and the number of its monuments is completely negligible: we have some stylistic remarks in Svyatoslav’s Izbornik, a treatise of the 16th century: “Speech of Greek Subtlety” and “The Science of composition of sermons" by Ioannikius Golyatovsky.

The systematic teaching of rhetoric begins in the southwestern theological schools from the 17th century, and textbooks are always Latin, so there is no need to look for original processing in them. The first serious Russian work is a Brief Guide to Lomonosov's eloquence ("Rhetoric" Lomonosov,), compiled on the basis of classical authors and Western European manuals and giving confirmation general provisions a number of examples in Russian - examples extracted in part from the works of new European writers. Lomonosov, in his "Discourse on the Usefulness of Church Books", applies Western theory of three styles. In view of the fact that the field of eloquence in Russia was limited almost exclusively to church preaching, rhetoric here almost always coincided with

It is important for every person to be able to communicate, since such a skill is a good helper in many situations. life situations. Almost all successes at school, work, in personal life. If the information is presented by the speaker concisely and structured, then it will reach the listeners in the best possible way. The science that studies all the details of oratory is called rhetoric. It is thanks to her that you can make your speech clear and convincing. Rhetoric - what is it? science or academic discipline?

What does the word "rhetoric" mean? Translating from Greek the word rhetoric looks like "rhetorike" and means "oratory". Initially, this definition meant the ability to speak beautifully and express your thoughts in front of other people.

Over time, the concept of rhetoric changed several times, which was influenced by the change of periods cultural development of people. Therefore, this science, starting from antiquity and ending with the present time, was perceived differently.

It was founded by the Sophists, who said that rhetoric is a discipline that can teach a speaker to prove his position, manipulate and dominate discussions. AT modern times the basis of such a science is harmonizing speech, the search for truth, the impulse to think.

Now the word rhetoric is understood as a discipline that allows you to study the methods of speech formation, characterized by expediency, harmony, and the ability to influence. In this regard, the subject of rhetoric acts as a thought-speech action.
Rhetoric combines the teachings of philosophy, sociology, psychology, which helps to achieve effective speech interaction with any audience.

Thus, modern rhetoric is considered from three sides:

This is a science that considers the art of the word, which has specific norms. public speaking in front of people who allow you to reach good result influencing listeners.
This is the highest level mastery of pronunciation of speech in front of the public, command of the word at a professional level and excellent public speaking.
An academic discipline that helps students instill the rules of public speaking.

Thus, general rhetoric studies the rules for constructing an expedient and persuasive speech, which helps to make the speech vivid and memorable.

What does science study?

The subject of rhetoric, as a science, includes methods for the formation of expedient oral and writing, as well as the process by which thoughts are converted into speech.

In order to determine the tasks of rhetoric, it is necessary to know about its main directions. They are distinguished by two:

Logical, in which the main aspects are the ability to convince the listener to effectively present information.
Literary, in which the richness and attractiveness of words are considered the most important elements.

Taking into account the fact that in this science these areas are combined, real rhetoric sets itself the task of making speech correct, convincing and expedient.
Having determined what rhetoric is and why it is needed, there is no doubt about its necessity in the life of a person, especially those engaged in public activities.

Rhetoric in ancient times

The origin of rhetoric began in ancient greece. Due to the fact that democracy was being formed in this state, the ability to convince gained considerable popularity in society.

Every resident of the city had the opportunity to be trained in oratory, which was taught by the sophists. These sages considered rhetoric to be the science of persuasion, which studies the means of verbally defeating an opponent. Because of this, in the future the word "sophism" caused backlash. After all, with them, rhetoric was considered as a trick, fiction, but earlier this science was considered the highest skill, skill.

In ancient Greece, many works were created that reveal rhetoric. Who is the author of the classical Greek treatise on this science? This is the well-known thinker Aristotle. This work, called "Rhetoric", singled out oratory among all other sciences. It defined the principles on which speech should be built, and indicated the methods used as evidence. Thanks to this treatise, Aristotle became the founder of rhetoric as a science.

In ancient Rome, Mark Tullius Cicero, who was engaged in politics, philosophy and oratory, contributed to the development of rhetoric. He created a work called "Brutus or about famous speakers", describing the development of science in the names of popular speakers. He also wrote the work "On the Orator", in which he spoke about what kind of speech behavior a worthy speaker should have. Then he created the book "The Orator", revealing the basics of eloquence.

Cicero considered rhetoric the most difficult science, unlike others. He argued that in order to become a worthy speaker, a person needs to have deep knowledge in all areas of life. Otherwise, he simply will not be able to maintain a dialogue with another person.

Development of rhetoric in Russia

Rhetoric in Russia arose on the basis of Roman science. Unfortunately, it has not always been so popular. Over time, when political and social regimes changed, the need for it was perceived differently.

The development of Russian rhetoric in stages:

Ancient Russia (XII-XVII centuries). During this period, the term "rhetoric" and educational books on it did not yet exist. But some of its rules have already been applied. People at that time called the ethics of speech eloquence, eloquence or rhetoric. The art of the word was taught on the basis of liturgical texts created by the preachers. For example, one of these collections is "Bee", written in the XIII century.
First half of the 17th century. During this period, a characteristic event was that the first Russian textbook was published, revealing the foundations of rhetoric.
End of the 17th - beginning and middle of the 18th century. At this stage, the book "Rhetoric" written by Mikhail Usachev was published. Also, many works were created, such as "Old Believer Rhetoric", the works "Poetics", "Ethics", several lectures on the rhetorical art of Feofan Prokopovich.
XVIII century. At this time, the formation of rhetoric as a Russian science has taken place, a huge contribution to which was made by Mikhail Vasilyevich Lomonosov. He wrote several works dedicated to it, of which the book "Rhetoric" became the basis for the development of this science.
Beginning and middle of the 19th century. This period is characterized by the fact that a rhetorical boom took place in the country. Well-known authors published a large number of study guides. These include the works of I.S. Riga, N.F. Koshansky, A.F. Merzlyakova, A.I. Galich, K.P. Zelensky, M.M. Speransky.

However, since the second half of the century this science begins to actively displace literature. Soviet people studied stylistics, linguistics, culture of speech, and criticized rhetoric.

Laws of the art of the word

Rhetoric at any time had as its ultimate goal - to influence listeners. A special role for its achievement is played by expressive speech, as well as visual and expressive means.

Scientists divide this science into two varieties - general and particular. The subject of general rhetoric includes general ways of behaving in speech pronunciation and the practical possibilities of their application in order to make speech effective.

This variety includes the following sections:

rhetorical canon;
public speaking;
rules on how to conduct a dispute;
conversation rules;
teachings about everyday communication;
communication between different nations.

By studying these sections, the speaker gains knowledge about the main features of speech use, which are the basis for each master of the word.

General rhetoric studies ways to achieve mutual understanding between the speaker and listeners. For this, the following laws were developed:

The law of harmonizing dialogue. The speaker should awaken the feelings and thoughts of the listeners, turning the monologue into a dialogue. It is possible to build harmonious communication only with the help of a dialogue of all the people participating in the discussion. The essence of this rule is more precisely revealed by the following laws.
The law of orientation and advancement of the listener. The person to whom the oratorical influence is directed should have the feeling that he, together with the speaker, is moving towards the intended goal. To achieve this effect, the speaker needs to use words in speech that determine the order of events, connect sentences and summarizing expressions.
The law of emotional speech. A person speaking to the public must himself experience the feelings that he is trying to evoke in the audience, and also be able to convey them through speech.
The law of pleasure. It implies the ability to present a speech in such a way that it gives pleasure to the listeners. This effect is easy to achieve if the speech is expressive and rich.

A particular kind of rhetoric is based on general type and involves the specific use of general provisions in certain areas of life. Thus, science studies what rules of speech pronunciation and behavior the speaker needs to apply depending on the situation.

There are a lot of private rhetoric, but they all fall into two main groups:

Homiletics.
Oratory.

The first group implies the speaker's ability to repeatedly influence the public. This includes the ecclesiastical and academic type of eloquence. In modern rhetoric, this group includes propaganda that is carried out in the media.

Thus, with academic eloquence, the speaker, conducting several lectures, should not each time re-talk about the goals of their conduct, their necessity, and so on. It is enough for him to tell about it at the first lecture, and at all the rest common task will be expanded by exploring a new topic.

Oratory is not able to influence people repeatedly. In this regard, the speaker must be able to correctly end each speech. This group includes judicial, everyday, socio-political and other types of eloquence.

At present, oratory has grown quite widely, so a specific type of rhetoric has already begun to be divided into its subspecies. For example, administrative, diplomatic, parliamentary and other rhetoric was singled out from socio-political eloquence.

Varieties of the speaker's speech

There are several varieties of oratory, depending on who needs to be convinced, where the speech takes place, what purpose it pursues. These include the following sayings:

Social and political. This is when they read reports on social, political and economic topics, speak at rallies, conduct campaigning.
Academic. It includes reading lectures, scientific reports or messages.
Judicial. This type of eloquence is used by the prosecutor and the defense counsel when speaking in court. By their speech they must convince of the guilt or innocence of the accused person.
Social and domestic. It is used by all people, making speeches at anniversaries, feasts or at commemorations. This also includes secular chatter, which does not require disputes, discussions, but is characterized by ease and simplicity of perception.
Theological. This eloquence is used in churches, for example, when the faithful give a sermon or other speech in a cathedral.
Diplomatic. This type involves the observance of ethical standards in business speech. This is necessary during business negotiations, correspondence, when compiling official documents as well as in translation.
Military. This kind of eloquence is used when calling for battle, issuing orders, charters, transmitting information by radio.
Pedagogical. It includes presentations by teachers and students, both oral and written. This also includes lecturing, which is considered a complex act of pedagogical communication.
Internal, or imaginary. This is the name of the dialogue that each person conducts with himself. This type implies mental preparation to oral presentation to the public, as well as to the written transmission of information, when a person reads what is written to himself, remembers something, thinks about something, and so on.

Based on the foregoing, we can conclude what rhetoric is and why society needs it. Rhetoric as a science of oratory involves the study of the correct pronunciation of speech in front of the public in order to somehow influence the people listening to it. With its help, speakers acquire the skills to make their speech correct, expedient, and most importantly, convincing.

Dictionary Ushakov

Rhetoric

rito rica(or rhetoric), rhetoric, pl. No, female (Greek rhetorike).

1. Theory of oratory, eloquence ( scientific). Textbook of classical rhetoric. rules of rhetoric.

| trans. pompous speech in which beautiful phrases and words hide its emptiness ( books. neod.).

2. In the old days - the name of the youngest of the three classes of theological seminaries (rhetoric, philosophy, theology).

Pedagogical speech science. Dictionary-Reference

Rhetoric

(Greek rhetorike techne from rhetor - speaker) - the theory and practical skill of expedient, influencing, harmonizing speech. R.'s theory, which arose as early as antiquity (the middle of the 1st millennium BC), syncretically contained all core disciplines humanitarian circle; by the middle of the 19th century. their isolation and specialization is completed, and R. loses the status of a theoretical field of knowledge. The development of humanitarian culture since the middle of the 20th century. marked by the so-called "rhetorical renaissance" or "revival of R.". This concerns, first of all, the theory of R.: linguistics and literary criticism again turn to the classical rhetorical heritage, rethinking it at a new level; abroad, a modern new rhetoric (neorhetoric) is emerging, which even begins to claim the role of a general methodology of humanitarian knowledge (the grounds for this are found in the fact that many of the most general theoretical concepts of the humanities arose precisely in classical rhetorical theory). Neo-rhetoric is related to linguistic pragmatics, communicative linguistics, etc.; these young sciences are essentially the disciplines of the rhetorical circle; their theoretical apparatus also largely goes back to the system of concepts of ancient R.

Since the second half of the XX century. abroad there is an interest in rhetorical practice, there are special techniques and improvement courses speech communication, listening and understanding, fast reading, etc. last years manifestations of the "rhetorical renaissance" are noticeable in our country as well. However, the modern theory of general R., the subject of which is general patterns speech behavior, acting in different situations communication, and ways to optimize speech communication, in Russian philology is just beginning to be developed. The same applies to modern private speech, on the basis of which it is possible to improve speech communication in the so-called "spheres of increased speech responsibility" (such as diplomacy and medicine, pedagogy and jurisprudence, administrative and organizational activity, social help, journalism, trade, services, etc.).

Lit.: Aristotle. Rhetoric // Ancient rhetoric. - M., 1978; Vinogradov V.V. On the language of artistic prose. - M., 1980; Graudina L.K., Miskevich G.I. Theory and practice of Russian eloquence. - M., 1989; Mikhalskaya A.K. O modern concept culture of speech // FN. - 1990. - No. 5; Mikhalskaya A.K. Russian Socrates: Lectures on comparative historical rhetoric. - M., 1996; Neo-rhetoric: genesis, problems, prospects: Sat. scientific and analytical reviews. - M., 1987; Rhetoric and style / Ed. Yu.V. Rozhdestvensky. - M., 1984.

A. K. Mikhalskaya 204

Rhetoric

(Greek rhetorike). Theory expressive speech, theory of eloquence, oratory.

Etymological Dictionary of the Russian Language

Rhetoric

Latin - rhetorica.

In Russian written speech, the word was first used by Avvakum (XVII century), and its spelling was somewhat different from the modern one, changed several times over the centuries. Old Russian word with the meaning "the theory of prose speech in general, eloquence in particular" was written and pronounced as "rhetoric", then the shortened "rhetoric" became widely used.

At the beginning of the XX century. traditional was the spelling "rhetoric" (respectively - "rhetor", "rhetorical").

Related are:

Polish - retoryka.

Derivatives: orator, rhetorician, rhetorical.

Culturology. Dictionary-reference

Rhetoric

(Greek rhetorike) is the science of oratory (about fiction in general). Consisted of 5 parts: finding the material, location, verbal expression, memorization and pronunciation. Rhetoric developed in antiquity (Cicero, Quintilian), developed in the Middle Ages and modern times, in the nineteenth century. immersed in literary theory.

Rhetoric: Dictionary Reference

Rhetoric

(other Greek ρητώρίκη)

Pedagogical terminological dictionary

Rhetoric

(Greek rhetorike (tekhne) - oratory)

a discipline that studies the ways of constructing artistically expressive speech (primarily prose and oral), various forms of speech impact on the audience.

R. received its beginnings in ancient Greece in the 5th century. BC. In the schools of sophists (see), a system of educational oratorical exercises was developed - recitations on given topics. The scientific foundations of R. were laid by Aristotle, who considered R. as the science of the laws of opinion (correlating it with logic, the science of the laws of knowledge). For teaching R. was important activity Theophrastus, a student of Aristotle, who in his essay "On the Syllable" gave an extensive systematized apparatus of rhetorical categories. Teaching in rhetorical schools was based on the study of the theory and exemplary works of orators of the 5th-4th centuries. BC.

Later, there was a gap between theory and normative samples: the theory set the task of R. entertaining presentation, the development of a high style, in the samples of Ch. attention was paid to the accuracy of the expression. In the Middle Ages, along with grammar and dialectics (logic), R. was part of the trivium, the lowest level of the seven free arts. In the monastic and cathedral schools of Western Europe, and then at the universities of the main. Sources for studying R. were the Latin anonymous "Rhetoric to Herennius" and "On Finding Words" by Cicero. R. remained a part classical education up to the 19th century. However, which began already in the 18th century. the discrepancy between normative school R. and language practice was the reason for the exclusion of R. from training courses by the beginning of the 20th century.

In Russia, the systematic teaching of R. began in the schools of Orthodox brotherhoods in Southwestern Russia and the Commonwealth in the 16th and 17th centuries. from Latin textbooks. In the Kyiv archives, 127 Roman textbooks in Latin dating back to the 17th and 18th centuries have been preserved, which were used in classes at the Kiev-Mohyla Academy. The authors of educational books on R. were: Simeon Polotsky, the Likhud brothers (1698), teacher R. Georgy Daniilovsky (c. 1720), M.V. Lomonosov (1748) and others. At the end of the 19th - beginning of the 20th centuries. instead of R., the theory of literature began to be taught, under this name from the 70s. 19th century until the 20s. 20th century came out school normative manuals, considering ch.o. artistic writing.

Elements of pedagogical R. have been preserved in the courses of the Russian language and literature to the present day (creative work, practical exercises for the development of oral and written forms of speech and mastery of the norms of speech etiquette, etc.).

From the 50s. In connection with the development of mass communication and information media in a number of countries (primarily in the United States, France, and Japan), interest in R. as an independent scientific and educational discipline arose again. In Ros. Federation in the 90s. R. as an academic discipline introduced in secondary schools.

(Bim-Bad B.M. Pedagogical encyclopedic Dictionary. - M., 2002. S. 241-242)

see also

Dictionary of linguistic terms

Rhetoric

(other Greek ρητώρίκη)

1) theory and art of eloquence;

2) a science that studies expressive techniques; stylistically differentiated speech, methods and techniques of discussion-polemical speech;

3) under the influence of enantiosemy, the meaning of the word R. has developed, including a negative assessment: R. - beautiful, pompous, little content speech;

4) According to A.A. Volkov: a philological discipline that studies the relationship of thought to the word; R.'s scope is prosaic speech or public argumentation. "Grammar, poetics, lexicography, textology, literary history, stylistics arose later than rhetoric and developed for a long time as auxiliary or preparatory subjects for the study of rhetoric"; Today, rhetoric as a philological discipline ranks among linguistics, stylistics, textual criticism, theory and history of fiction, folklore, and occupies a place in the system of philological disciplines that is justified historically and methodologically;

R. focuses on structure language personality the sender and receiver of speech, on the speech technique of argumentation and the method of constructing an expedient statement;

R. generalizes the experience of social and linguistic practice, studying the type of linguistic personality specific to each cultural and linguistic community and the nature of speech relations;

general R. studies the principles of constructing expedient speech;

private R. studies specific types of speech;

modern Russian argumentation technique has deep historical roots: it goes back to the Byzantine ancient culture public speech and adopted the methods and forms of argumentation of Western European societies;

5) R. - an academic discipline that involves the special and literary education of a rhetor;

R.'s social tasks consist of:

a) in the education of a rhetor;

b) creation of norms of public argumentation, providing a discussion of problems significant for society;

c) organization of speech relations in the field of management, education, economic activity, security, law and order;

d) in determining the criteria for evaluating public activities, on the basis of which persons capable of holding responsible positions are selected. The science of the art of speech, eloquence, oratory. R. summarizes the experience of the masters of the word, sets the rules.

Antique world. Dictionary-reference

Rhetoric

(Greek rhetorike)

the science of the laws of eloquence and their practical application. In Ancient Greece, arose in the 5th century. BC, but how science developed in the III century. BC. In ancient Rome, reached its peak in the 1st century. BC. The Romans learned oratory from the Greeks and borrowed a lot from them. Classic antique r. included 5 main parts: 1) selection and systematization of the material; 2) the arrangement of the material and its presentation; 3) verbal expression, combination of words and style of speech (simple, medium, high); 4) conclusion; 5) pronunciation technique. According to the laws of speech should consist of the following parts: introduction, presentation of the essence of the case, evidence and conclusion.

R. of antiquity are mainly judicial and solemn (ceremonial) speeches. Roman eloquence reached its perfection in the person of Cicero (about 50 of his speeches have survived): even today the best orators are compared with Cicero.

Cicero. Three treatises on oratory. M., 1972; Ancient rhetoric / Ed. A.A. Tahoe-Godi. M., 1978; Kozarzhevsky A.Ch. Ancient oratory. M., 1980; Kuznetsova T.I., Strelnikova I.P. Oratory in Ancient Rome. M., 1976.

(I.A. Lisovy, K.A. Revyako. The ancient world in terms, names and titles: Dictionary-reference book on the history and culture of Ancient Greece and Rome / Scientific ed. A.I. Nemirovsky. - 3rd ed. - Minsk: Belarus, 2001)

in the ancient world, the science of the laws of eloquence, theory and practice publ. speech. R. owes its appearance to a widely developed society, life in gr. democrat, city-states (primarily in Sicily and Athens), where state issues. management and legal disputes were resolved in Nar. assembly and court hearings involving, therefore, the number of citizens. Under these circumstances, the priority the task of the speaker yavl. substantiation of his own t. sp., the desire to convince listeners using all means of influencing their mind and emotions. About the role played by the public. word in Athens in the 5th - 4th centuries, give an idea of the speech put by Thucydides into the mouth of politicians, figures of the period Peloponnesian War, as well as save speeches Lysia, Isocrates, Demosthenes and other Athenian speakers. Theor. R.'s justification as a science is associated by tradition with the names of the Sicilian teachers of eloquence - Tisias and Korak (5th century BC) and their compatriot George, who in 427 conquered the Athenians with his orator and skill. Bol. other senior sophists (Protagoras, Hippias) also made a contribution to the development of R., who considered one of their chapters. merit the ability to "do weak word strong”, that is, to find convincing evidence. any thesis. The first school of R. was opened in Athens by Isocrates, who sought to reinforce the practical training of his speaker. general education. To the 2nd floor. 4th century refers to the 1st normative manual for the speaker, claim-woo - the so-called. "R. to Alexander" Anaximenes (not to be confused with a philosopher!), preserved. among the works of Aristotle. His own "R.", which was based on the laws of logic, ethics and psychology of perception, did not have any creatures that influenced professional development questions R., to-rye occupied Ch. place in the treatise of Theophrastus “On style” (or “On the syllable”) that has not come down to us, where, no-vid., the doctrine of 3 styles of speech (high, medium, simple) was first developed and the requirements for its clarity, beauty and "relevance", i.e., compliance with the task of the speaker. The crisis of the democrats, policies and the formation of Hellenes, monarchies (by the 4th - 3rd centuries BC) deprives the public of the meaning. speeches on issues of states, importance, in connection with which the development of formal tech. aspects of speech, a detailed classification of the evidence system, speech figures etc., which, however, does not interfere with the manifestation of a true taste for art. word in op. Dionysius of Halicarnassus and the anonymous treatise "On the Sublime". The result of the development of other gr. R. steel prod. Hermogenes (II century AD), focused on the needs of school education.

In lat. lang. the first monument of R. yavl. non-bol. treatise R. to Herennius, erroneously attributed to Cicero, who himself was rather reserved about technical instructions, highlighting the ideal of meaningfulness of speech and comprehensive education of the speaker. From 3 ch. Cicero's treatises on the orator, the claim in the naib, degree "Orator" (46 BC) is devoted to a systematic presentation of styles. questions R. The establishment of the empire in Rome leads, as in gr. state-wah, to the fall of the content side of R.: bol. distribution in rhetors, schools receive all kinds of recitations intended for fictitious trials and fictitious incidents. Consideration of the technical side of the speaker, the lawsuit prevails in the work that completes the development of the theory of R. in Rome. soil, - in the "Education of a speaker" Kvintshshana. Numerous monuments orator, prose preserved. from the late antique period. (speeches by Dion Chrysostom, Libanius, Themistius), but neither the writers themselves nor the authors of the specials enter R.'s theory. treatises and manuals have not introduced anything fundamentally new. Main its provisions were fully formed by the end of the 1st century. n. e. and included the division of speeches into political (deliberative), judicial, and epidictic (ceremonial); traditional speech structure, ch. arr. judiciary (introduction, presentation, proof, refutation, conclusion), the doctrine of speech preparation (finding material, its location, selection of expressions, means, memorization) and its pronunciation; style theory; detailed classification of speech figures; the requirement for the speaker not only to convince and excite the listener, but also to delight him with the beauty of the sounding word.

(Ancient culture: literature, theater, art, philosophy, science. Dictionary-reference book / Edited by V.N. Yarkho. M., 1995.)

Terminological dictionary-thesaurus on literary criticism

Rhetoric

(from Greek rhetorike, from rhetor - speaker) - the science of oratory and, more broadly, of fiction in general. In the 19th century immersed in literary theory.

Republic of Belarus: literature and science

Corr: poetics

The Whole: Literary Theory

Ass: style, tropes, figures of speech

* "How special discipline, rhetoric is aimed at comprehending the specifics of the artistic language and the means of its creation. It is intended to explain how and why rhetorical figures - these clichés of artistic thought - transform speech, give it a style and quality of artistry" (Yu.B. Borev).

"Rhetoric from the very beginning becomes peculiar nervous system literature" (M.Ya. Polyakov). *

Dictionary of forgotten and difficult words of the 18th-19th centuries

Rhetoric

and rhetoric, and , well.

1. The science of eloquence, oratory; textbook on the theory of eloquence.

* As for the Russian language, we only had textbooks, i.e. grammar, syntax and rhetoric. // Saltykov-Shchedrin. Poshekhonskaya old times //* *

RHETORICAL.

2. The pomp of speech.

* This fidelity is false from beginning to end. There is a lot of rhetoric in the story, but no logic. // Chekhov. Uncle Ivan // *

3. Name junior class theological seminary.

* [Pravdin:] And you, Mr. Kuteikin, aren't you one of the scientists? [Kuteikin:] From scientists, your highness! Seminaries of the local diocese. Reached rhetoric, but deigning God, returned back. // Fonvizin. Undergrowth // *

Gasparov. Entries and extracts

Rhetoric

♦ At school, we were taught to list three of its meanings at the end of the analysis of each work: cognitive, ideological and educational, and literary and artistic. Actually, this exactly corresponds to the three tasks of rhetoric: docere, movere, delectare (mind, will, feeling).

♦ (T.V.) "Rhetoric - wherever a person first thinks and then speaks, Aristotle is more rhetorical than Plato, and Socrates was the only Greek non-rhetorician."

♦ An unfamiliar voice called me: "I am so-and-so ("ah, I know, of course I read"), I'm defending my doctorate, do not refuse to be an opponent". The topic is close to me, there are few specialists, I agreed. Time is short, as always. After reading the paper, I overcame my phone fear and called him: "I will speak the most good words, I can not say only one thing - what is it scientific work ; I hope that my rhetorical experience is enough so that the scientific council does not notice this, but consider whether you can take another opponent". He thought for half a minute and said: "No, I rely on you". Rhetorical experience was enough, the vote was unanimous

♦ (From the diary of M. Shkapskaya in RGALI). Olga Forsh was waiting for the tram, missed four, jumped into the fifth; it was removed by a young policeman, who said: "You, citizen, are not so young as you are unreasonable." She walked away, touched, and only then realized that he had simply told her the old fool.

♦ In vain they think that this is the ability to say what you don't really think. This is the ability to say exactly what you think, but in such a way that you are not surprised or indignant. The ability to say one's own words in other people's words is exactly what the hater of rhetoric Bakhtin has been doing all his life. The Muses in the prologue to Theogony say:

We know how to tell a lot of lies

similar to the truth,

But we also know how to speak the truth,

When we want.

Published "History of world literature", I wrote the introduction to the antique section. N. from the editorial board in a bright speech demanded that Greece created the type of Promethean man who became a beacon for progressive mankind of all times. I listened, kept silent and wrote the opposite - that Greece created the concept of law, world and human, which is above all, etc., - but using vocabulary peculiar to H. I N., and everyone in the editorial board was completely satisfied. Who wants to can read in the I volume IVL.

Terms of Cinematic Semiotics

RHETORIC

(Greek rhetorikē) Theory of oratory. See also in the understanding of K. Metz.

RHETORIC in the understanding of Y. Lotman - Y. Lotman writes: RHETORIC - one of the most traditional disciplines of the philological cycle - has now received a new life. The need to connect the data of linguistics and the poetics of the text gave rise to neo-rhetoric, which in a short time brought to life an extensive scientific literature. Without touching upon the problems that arise in this case in their entirety, we single out an aspect that we will need in the further presentation. A rhetorical statement, in the terminology we have adopted, is not some simple message, on which decorations are superimposed on top, when removed, the main meaning is preserved. In other words. A rhetorical statement cannot be expressed in a non-rhetorical way. The rhetorical structure lies not in the sphere of expression, but in the sphere of content. Unlike a non-rhetorical text, as already noted, we will call a rhetorical text one that can be represented as a structural unity of two (or several) subtexts encrypted using different, mutually untranslatable codes. These subtexts may represent local orderings, and thus the text in its various parts will have to be read using different languages or act as different words, uniform throughout the text. In this second case, the text assumes a double reading, for example everyday and symbolic. Rhetorical texts will include all cases of counterpoint clashes within the same structure of various semiotic languages. The rhetoric of a baroque text is characterized by a clash within a whole area marked by different degrees of semioticity. In the collision of languages, one of them invariably appears as a natural (non-language), and the other as emphatically artificial. In the baroque temple wall paintings in the Czech Republic, one can find a motif: an angel in a frame. The peculiarity of the painting is that the frame imitates an oval window. And the figure sitting on the windowsill hangs one leg, as if crawling out of the frame. The leg that does not fit inside the composition is sculptural. It is attached to the drawing as a continuation. Thus, the text is a pictorial and sculptural combination, and the background behind the figure imitates blue sky and appears as a breakthrough in the space of the fresco.. The protruding three-dimensional leg breaks this space in a different way and in the opposite direction. The entire text is based on the play between real and unreal space and the clash of art languages, one of which seems to be a natural property of the object itself, and the other is an artificial imitation of it. The art of classicism demanded unity of style. The baroque change of local orders seemed barbaric. All text throughout should be evenly organized and encoded in the same way. This does not mean, however, that the rhetorical structure is abandoned. The rhetorical effect is achieved by other means - the multi-layered language structure. The most common is the case when the object of the image is encoded first by the theatrical, and then by the poetic (lyrical), historical or pictorial code. In some cases (this is especially true for historical prose, pastoral poetry and painting XVIII c.) the text is a direct reproduction of the corresponding theatrical exposition or stage episode. In accordance with the genre, such an intermediary text-code can be a scene from a tragedy, comedy or ballet. So, for example, Charles Coypel's painting Psyche Abandoned by Cupid reproduces the ballet scene in all the conventions of the spectacle of this genre in the interpretation of the 18th century. (Yu. Lotman Semiosphere St. Petersburg, Art - St. Petersburg, 2000, pp. 197-198). See also .

P.S. It can be seen from this text that Y. Lotman reduces RHETORIC (NEO-ORITORIC), which has suddenly become popular, to the long-known ECLECTICS, or SYMBIOSIS of artistic means. In contrast, Christian Metz provides a more meaningful explanation for semiologists' keen interest in medieval rhetoric. See next term.

RHETORIC in the understanding of K. Metz - Christian Metz writes: "Is the "grammar" of cinema RHETORIC or grammar? Based on the foregoing, we can assume that this is most likely RHETORIC, since the minimum unit (plan) is indefinite, and therefore codification can only affect large units The doctrine of "disposition" (dispositio) * (or large syntagmatics), which is one of the main parts of classical rhetoric, consists in prescribing a certain combination of indefinite elements: any legal speech should consist of five parts (introduction, exposition, and so on) , but the duration and internal composition of each of them are arbitrary.Practically all the figures of "cinematic grammar" - that is, a set of units: 1) sign (as opposed to "differential"), 2) discrete, 3) large sizes, 4) specific to cinema and common to films - obey the same principle. It is both codified (= by the very fact of alternation) and symbolic (since this alternation denotes simultaneity), but the duration and internal composition of the combined elements (that is, alternating images) remain absolutely arbitrary. And yet it is precisely here that one of the greatest difficulties of the semiotics of cinema arises, since rhetoric in its other aspects is grammar, and the essence of the semiotics of cinema lies in the fact that rhetoric and grammar here turn out to be indivisible, as Pier-Paolo Pasolini rightly emphasizes. "(Sat "The structure of the film" M., Rainbow, 1984, article by K. Metz "Problems of denotation in a feature film" pp., 109-110).

Note:

the doctrine of "disposition" (dispositio) * - The doctrine of "disposition" is one of the three parts of classical rhetoric: 1) inventio - the selection of arguments and evidence, 2) dispositio - the development of the order of presentation of arguments and evidence, 3) elocutio - the doctrine of verbal expression (Note M. Yampolsky).

P.S. From the above, at least, it is clear why Christian Metz needed the venerable RHETORIC: he is trying to define the essence of cinematic grammar, and is not engaged, like Yu. Lotman, only in terminological renaming.

Philosophical Dictionary (Comte-Sponville)

Rhetoric

Rhetoric

♦ Rhetorique

The art of discourse (as opposed to eloquence as the art of speech) aimed at persuasion. Rhetoric subordinates the form with all its possibilities of persuasion to the content, that is, thought. For example, forms such as chiasm (***), antithesis, or metaphor do not by themselves prove anything and cannot serve as an argument for anything, but as an aid they can help in persuasion. Therefore, rhetorical devices should not be abused. Rhetoric tending towards self-sufficiency ceases to be rhetoric and turns into sophistry. Rhetoric is necessary, and only complacent people can think that rhetoric is easy to do without. The best minds of mankind did not disdain rhetoric. Take Pascal or Rousseau: a brilliant possession of oratory did not prevent each of them from becoming a brilliant writer and thinker. True, we admit that Montaigne looks more advantageous against their background - he is more direct, more inventive and more free. He was much less eager to convince anyone of his innocence; he had enough truth and freedom. However, it cannot be said that he completely dispensed with rhetoric - he was simply better than others able to maintain his independence from rhetoric. As they say, first learn a trade, and then forget that you learned it.

Kind of parallelism; the arrangement of the parts of two parallel terms in reverse order ("We eat to live, not live to eat").

Explanatory Dictionary of the Russian Language (Alabugina)

Rhetoric

AND, well.

1. Theory of oratory, eloquence.

* Study rhetoric. *

2. trans. Excessive elation of presentation, pomposity.

* Speak without rhetoric and loud phrases. *

|| adj. rhetorical, th, th.

* Rhetorical question. *

Explanatory Translation Dictionary

Rhetoric

theory of expressiveness of speech, theory of eloquence, oratory.

Rhetoric: Dictionary Reference

Rhetoric

(other Greek ρητώρίκη)

1) Theory and art of eloquence;

2) a science that studies expressive techniques; stylistically differentiated speech, methods and techniques of discussion-polemical speech;

3) under the influence of enantiosemy, the meaning of the word R. has developed, including a negative assessment: R. - beautiful, pompous, little content speech;

4) According to A.A. Volkov: a philological discipline that studies the relationship of thought to the word; R.'s scope is prosaic speech or public argumentation. “Grammar, poetics, lexicography, textual criticism, literary history, stylistics arose later than rhetoric and developed for a long time as auxiliary or preparatory subjects for the study of rhetoric”; Today, rhetoric as a philological discipline ranks among linguistics, stylistics, textual criticism, theory and history of fiction, folklore, and occupies a place in the system of philological disciplines that is justified historically and methodologically; R. focuses on the structure of the linguistic personality of the sender and recipient of speech, on the speech technique of argumentation and the method of constructing an expedient statement; R. generalizes the experience of social and linguistic practice, studying the type of linguistic personality specific to each cultural and linguistic community and the nature of speech relations; general R. studies the principles of constructing expedient speech; private R. studies specific types of speech; modern Russian argumentation technique has deep historical roots: it goes back to the ancient Byzantine culture of public speech and adopted the methods and forms of argumentation of Western European societies;

5) R. - an academic discipline that involves the special and literary education of a rhetor; R.'s social tasks are: a) in the education of a rhetorician; b) creation of norms of public argumentation, providing a discussion of problems significant for society; c) organization of speech relations in the field of management, education, economic activity, security, law and order; d) in determining the criteria for evaluating public activities, on the basis of which persons capable of holding responsible positions are selected. The science of the art of speech, eloquence, oratory. R. summarizes the experience of the masters of the word, sets the rules.

encyclopedic Dictionary

Rhetoric

(Greek rhetorike),

the science of oratory and, more broadly, of artistic prose in general. It consisted of 5 parts: finding material, arrangement, verbal expression (the doctrine of 3 styles: high, medium and low and 3 means of style elevation: selection of words, combination of words and stylistic figures), memorization and pronunciation. Rhetoric was developed in antiquity (Cicero, Quintilian), developed in the Middle Ages and in modern times (in Russia, M. V. Lomonosov). In the 19th century the doctrine of verbal expression merged into poetics and became part of the theory of literature under the name of stylistics. All R. 20th century the broad (general literary, linguistic and even philosophical) meaning of tereffective speech communication is being revived.
Musical rhetoric is a musical-theoretical doctrine of the Baroque era, associated with the view of music as a direct analogy of oratorical and poetic speech. Includes the same parts as literary rhetoric; their content was expressed in a system of specific musical techniques (see Art. Figure).

Ozhegov's dictionary

RIT O RIKA, and, well.

1. Theory of oratory.

2. trans. Pompous and incoherent speech. Empty r. Get into rhetoric.

| adj. rhetorical, oh, oh. R. question(reception of oratorical speech statement in the form of a question).

Dictionary of Efremova

Rhetoric

well.
1. :
  1. Theory and art of eloquence.
  2. An academic subject containing the theory of eloquence.
  3. unfold A textbook that sets out the content of a given academic subject.
2. trans. Effective, beautiful, but little content speech.
well. obsolete The name of the junior class of the theological seminary.

Encyclopedia of Brockhaus and Efron

Rhetoric

(ρητορική τέχνη) - in the original meaning of the word - the science of oratory, but later was sometimes understood more broadly, as a theory of prose in general. European R. gets its start in Greece, in the schools of the sophists, whose main task was to practical training eloquence; therefore, their R. included many rules related to stylistics and grammar proper. According to Diogenes Laertes, Aristotle attributed the invention of R. to the Pythagorean Empedocles, whose composition is unknown to us even by name. From the words of Aristotle himself and from other sources, we know that the first treatise on R. belonged to a student of Empedocles, Corax, a favorite of the Syracusan tyrant Hieron, a political orator and lawyer. In him we find a curious definition: "eloquence is the worker of persuasion (πειθοΰς δημιουργός)"; he is the first to make an attempt to establish the division of oratory into parts: introduction (προοιμιον), sentence (κατάστάσις), presentation (διήγησις), proof or struggle (άγών), fall (παρέκβασις) and conclusion; he also put forward the position that the main goal of the orator is not the disclosure of truth, but persuasiveness with the help of the probable (είκός), for which all sorts of sophisms are extremely useful. The work of Corax has not come down to us, but ancient writers give us examples of his sophisms, of which the so-called crocodile was especially famous. A student of Corax, Tizius, developed the same system of sophistical evidence and the main means of teaching R. considered memorizing exemplary speeches of judicial orators. Gorgias of Leontius, who was famous in his time, came out of his school, who, according to Plato, “discovered that the probable is more important than the true, and was able in his speeches to present the small as great, and the great as small, to pass off the old as new and recognize the new as old, about one and express conflicting opinions on the same subject. Gorgias' method of teaching also consisted in the study of patterns; each of his students had to know extracts from the works of the best speakers in order to be able to answer the most frequently raised objections. Gorgias owned a curious treatise "on a decent occasion" (περί τοΰ καιροΰ), which spoke of the dependence of speech on the subject, on the subjective properties of the speaker and the audience, and gave instructions on how to destroy serious arguments with the help of ridicule and, conversely, to respond to ridicule with dignity . Gorgias contrasted beautiful speaking (εύέπεια) with the affirmation of truth (όρθοέπεια). He contributed a lot to the creation of rules about metaphors, figures, alliteration, parallelism of parts of a phrase. Many famous rhetoricians came out of the school of Gorgias: Paul of Agrigent, Likimnius, Thrasymachus, Even, Theodore of Byzantium; the sophists Protagoras and Prodicus and the famous orator Isocrates, who developed the doctrine of the period, belonged to the same stylistic direction. The direction of this school can be called practical, although it prepared rich psychological material for the development of general theoretical provisions on oratory and this facilitated the task of Aristotle, who in his famous "Rhetoric" (translated by N. N. Platonova, St. Petersburg, 1894) provides a scientific justification for the former dogmatic rules, using purely empirical methods. Aristotle significantly expanded the field of R., in comparison with the view of it that was common at that time. “Since the gift of speech,” he says, “has the character of universality and finds application in the most diverse cases, and since the action in giving advice, with all kinds of explanations and convictions given for one person or for entire assemblies (with which the orator deals ), is essentially the same, then R. has as little to do with any one specific area as does dialectics: it embraces all spheres human life. Rhetoric, understood in this sense, is used by everyone at every turn; it is equally necessary both in matters relating to the everyday needs of an individual, and in matters of national importance: once a person begins to persuade another person to something or dissuade him from something, he must resort to the help of R., consciously or unconsciously " Understanding R. in this way, Aristotle defines it as the ability to find possible ways beliefs about any given subject. Hence the goal pursued by Aristotle in his treatise is clear: he wanted, on the basis of observation, to give general forms oratory, to indicate what the speaker, or in general anyone who wants to convince someone of something, should be guided by. Accordingly, he divided his treatise into three parts: the first of them is devoted to an analysis of those principles on the basis of which the orator (i.e., anyone who speaks about something) can induce his listeners to something or deflect them from something. anything, can praise or blame something. The second part speaks of those personal properties and characteristics of the speaker, with the help of which he can inspire confidence in his listeners and thus more likely achieve his goal, that is, persuade or dissuade them. The third part deals with the special, technical, so to speak, side of rhetoric: Aristotle speaks here about the methods of expression that should be used in speech, and about the construction of speech. Thanks to the many subtle psychological remarks on the interaction between the speaker and the environment (for example, the meaning of humor, pathos, the impact on young people and the elderly), thanks to an excellent analysis of the power of evidence used in speech, Aristotle's work has not lost its significance for our time and had a strong influence on the entire subsequent development of European R.: in essence, some of the questions posed by Aristotle could now be the subject of scientific research, and, of course, the same empirical method used by Aristotle should be applied. Having accepted many of the provisions of Aristotle as dogmatic truths, R., however, both in Greece and, later, in Western Europe, - strongly deviated from his method of research, returning to the path of practical instructions along which the sophists followed. Among the Greeks, after Aristotle, we see two directions: attic, concerned primarily with the accuracy of the expression, and asian, which set the task of entertaining presentation and developed a special high style based on contrasts, replete with comparisons and metaphors. In Rome, the first follower of this Asian trend was Hortensius, and later Cicero adjoins him, who, however, speaks in some writings in favor of Atticism, the most elegant representative of which in Roman literature can be considered Caesar. Already at this time, one can see in the writings of some rhetoricians the emergence of the theory of three styles - high, medium and low - developed in the Middle Ages and in the Renaissance. Cicero owns a considerable number of treatises on oratory (for example, "Brutus", "Orator"), and Roman R. received the most complete expression in the writings of Quintilian; She has never been original. In the era of the struggle between Christianity and ancient paganism, the science of Christian oratory was created (see Homiletics), which reached a brilliant development in the 4th and 5th centuries. after R. Kh. In a theoretical sense, it adds almost nothing to what was worked out by antiquity. In Byzantium, R.'s methods are closest to the Asian direction, and in this form this science is transmitted to ancient Russia, where we can see excellent examples of its influence in the works of Metropolitan Hilarion and Cyril of Turov. In the West, R. keeps the instructions of Aristotle, Cicero and Quintilian, and these instructions turn into indisputable rules, and science becomes some kind of legislative code. This character is established in European R., especially in Italy, where, thanks to the meeting of the Latin scientific and Italian vernacular languages, the theory of three styles finds its best application. As stylists, Bembo and Castiglione occupy a prominent place in the history of Italian R., and the legislative direction is especially clearly expressed in the activities of the Academy della Crusca, whose task is to preserve the purity of the language. In the works, for example, by Sperone Speroni, the imitation of Gorgias' techniques in antitheses, the rhythmic structure of speech, the selection of consonances is noticeable, while the Florentine Davanzati notices a revival of Atticism. From Italy, this direction is transferred to France and other European countries. A new classicism is being created in R., which finds its best expression in Fenelon's Discourse on Eloquence. Any speech, according to Fenelon's theory, must either prove (ordinary style), or paint (medium), or captivate (high). According to Cicero, the oratorical word should approach the poetic; it is not necessary, however, to pile up artificial ornaments. We must try to imitate the ancients in everything; the main thing is clarity and correspondence of speech to feeling and thought. Interesting data for the characterization of French rhetoric can also be found in the history of the French academy and other institutions that guarded traditional rules. Similarly, the development of R. in England and Germany throughout XVIII century. In our century, the development of political and other types of eloquence should have led to the abolition of the conventional, legislative rules of oratory - and R. returns to the path of observation outlined by Aristotle. The concept of science is also expanding: for example, in Wackernagel, R. includes the entire theory of prose and is divided into two sections (narrative and instructive prose), and remarks about style are finally excluded from R., since they equally apply to poetry, and to prose, and therefore constitute a special department of stylistics. In Russia, in the pre-Petrine period of the development of literature, R. could be used only in the field of spiritual eloquence, and the number of its monuments is absolutely negligible: we have some stylistic remarks in Svyatoslav's "Izbornik", a curious treatise of the 16th century: "Speech of subtle Greek" ( ed. of the Society of Lovers of Ancient Literature) and "The Science of Composition of Sermons", Ioannikius Golyatovsky. The systematic teaching of R. begins in the southwestern theological schools from the 17th century, and the textbooks are always Latin, so there is no need to look for original processing in them. The first serious Russian work is Lomonosov's "Rhetoric", compiled on the basis of classical authors and Western European manuals and giving a number of examples in Russian to confirm the general provisions - examples taken partly from the works of new European writers. Lomonosov, in his Discourse on the Usefulness of Church Books, applies the Western theory of three styles to the Russian language. In view of the fact that the area of eloquence in Russia was limited almost exclusively to church sermons, R. coincides with us almost always with homiletics (see); on secular rhetoric, we have extremely few works, and even those do not differ in independence, such as Koshansky's guides (see). The scientific development of R. in the sense that it is understood in the West has not yet begun in our country.

1. The concept of rhetoric

Rhetoric(Greek rhetorike - "oratory") - a scientific discipline that studies the patterns of generation, transmission and perception of good speech and high-quality text (Introduction to cultural studies. A course of lectures / Edited by Yu. N. Solonin, E. G. Sokolov. St. Petersburg ., 2003. S. 149-160).

In ancient times, rhetoric was understood as the art of a speaker, the art of oral public speaking, that is, only in the literal sense of the word. To understand rhetoric in broad sense approached only closer to the Middle Ages. Today, if it is necessary to distinguish the technique of oral public speaking from rhetoric in a broad sense, the term "oratorio" is used to refer to the former.

Traditional rhetoric (“the science of good speech,” as Quintilian defined it) was opposed to grammar (“the science of correct speech”), poetics, and hermeneutics. Unlike poetics, the subject of rhetoric included only prose speech and prose texts. In addition, rhetoric was distinguished by a significant interest in the persuasive power of the text and a vaguely expressed interest in other components of its content that do not affect persuasiveness. The latter distinguishes rhetoric from hermeneutics.

Methodological differences between rhetoric and other philological sciences:

1) orientation to the value aspect in the description of the subject;

2) the subordination of this description to applied problems.

AT ancient Russian literature a number of synonyms with a value meaning were distinguished, denoting "mastery of the art of good speech": eloquence, good speech, red-spokenness, cunning, chrysostom and, finally, eloquence. During this period, the moral and ethical component acted as a value element. In this light, rhetoric became the science and art of bringing to good, of persuading good through speech. The moral and ethical component in modern rhetoric has survived only in a truncated form, although some researchers are making attempts to restore its meaning. Other attempts are being made - to define rhetoric, completely removing the value aspect from the definitions. There are, for example, definitions of rhetoric as the science of generating statements (such a definition is given by A. K. Avelychev with reference to W. Eco-Dubois). The elimination of the value aspect of the study of speech and text leads to the loss of the specifics of rhetoric against the background of descriptive philological disciplines. The task of the philological sciences is a complete description of the subject, which involves further applied use. However, the description also focuses on the needs of speech practice. Thus, an important role, like scientific rhetoric, in the system of rhetorical disciplines, is played by educational (didactic) rhetoric, that is, teaching the technique of generating good speech and high-quality text.

Much in life is determined by the ability to communicate. Success in school, career, personal relationships, built on the ability to communicate. Whether you're reading a lecture in an audience, congratulating at a party, or going through a job interview, concise, structured speech will convey information to listeners in a favorable light. The science that studies the intricacies of oratory is rhetoric. It helps to give speech clarity, specificity, persuasiveness.

From its inception in antiquity to the present day, rhetoric as a science has been understood in different ways. The founding Sophists defined it as a discipline that teaches to manipulate, to prove the point of view of the speaker, to dominate discussions.

Today, in the first place is harmonizing speech, the search for truth, the incitement to thought. In the modern sense, rhetoric is a discipline that studies how to create an expedient, influencing, harmonizing speech. The subject of rhetoric is thought-speech action.

Combining philosophy, sociology, psycholinguistics and philology, modern rhetoric makes it possible to achieve effective speech interaction with any society.

The subject and tasks of rhetoric

The subject in rhetoric is the ways of forming an expedient word:

oral;
printed;
electronic;
the process of converting thought into speech.

The tasks of rhetoric are reduced to its direction. The first direction is logical: persuasiveness, efficiency of speech are the primary parameters. The second is the literary direction: the dominant aspects are the splendor and beauty of words. Given the unification of the logical and literary direction in modern rhetoric, its tasks include the correctness, persuasiveness and expediency of speech.

Rhetoric and culture of speech

The culture of speech is a discipline that studies the norms of literary and national languages, as well as the rules for the appropriate use of linguistic means of expression. Rhetoric and culture of speech are interrelated concepts that provide productive communication.

Private and general rhetoric

Rhetoric falls into two categories: general and particular. General rhetoric studies oratory in general and is useful to any person.

Private rhetoric, based on canons and rules, studies the art of eloquence in various professional fields.

General rhetoric has sections:

rhetorical canon;
oratory - the art of public speaking;
dispute - the art of apodictic discussion (arguing for the sake of reaching the truth);
conversation - a section that teaches to conduct a private, secular or business conversation;
rhetoric everyday communication teaching to recognize the emotional and speech signals sent by the interlocutor, to adapt to them;
ethno-rhetoric, which studies the features of speech behavior of different nationalities.

The rhetorical canon of antiquity consisted of five parts:

Invention (invention). Formation of an idea for a speech. Finding an answer to the question: What to say?
Location (disposition). Drawing up a text plan to achieve the transfer of the main idea.
Expression (elocution). Making speech with visual means of the language, editing the text.
Memorization (memorio). The speaker's choice of communication method. Learning, taking notes.
Pronunciation (action). The speaker's speech in front of an audience.

At the fifth stage, the culmination of oratorical activity takes place and the ancient rhetorical canon ends. For the sake of improving oratory skills, one more item has been added in the modern canon:

Reflection. It implies the author's reasoning over his speech, the search for weak formulations and the selection of successful speech techniques.

There are three stages in the rhetorical canon:

pre-communicative, including work on speech (invention, arrangement, expression, memorization);
communicative, representing the interaction of the speaker with the audience (pronunciation);
post-communicative stage, which is the analysis of the speech (reflection).

Oratorical activity is based on three concepts - ethos, logos, pathos.

Ethos implies the validity of speech by circumstances that affect the topic of speech (place, time, duration of speech);
Logos is responsible for the logical component;
Paphos includes the emotional and mimic color of the performance.

Types of eloquence

There are five main types of eloquence:

Socio-political view - diplomatic, socio-political, political-economic, parliamentary, rally and propaganda speeches.
Academic view - scientific lectures, messages, abstracts, seminars and reports.
Judicial view - speeches of actors litigation: lawyers, prosecutors, judges.
Theological eloquence or spiritual appearance - parting words, sermons, solemn speeches of a church orientation.
Social and everyday types of eloquence - drinking, anniversary, festive or memorial speeches.

The origin of rhetoric as a scientific discipline takes place in ancient Greece as early as the fifth century BC. Due to the formation of slave-owning democracy, the art of persuasive speech has become in great demand in society. Any representative of the policy (city) could learn oratory from teachers of rhetoric - sophists (wise men).

Possessing all the skills of eloquence, the sophists taught the wards through practical exercises. At heated discussions and subsequent analyzes of speeches, the masters of the word prepared students for the professions of judicial defenders, prosecutors, and rhetors. The Sophists taught the art of decorating the word, creating persuasive speeches. They argued that the art of speech is not in the search for truth, but in proving the correctness of the speaker.

Rhetoric was understood by the sophists as the science of persuasion, the purpose of which is victory over the enemy. This served as a subsequent negative coloring of the meaning of the word "sophism". If at first it was understood as "skill, skill, wisdom", now it is "trick, invention".

Notable sophist philosophers:

Protagoras (485-410 BC)

Considered the founder of the art of discussion. The author of the thesis: "Man is the measure of all things."

Gorgias (483-375 BC)

Master of oratory, the first teacher of rhetoric in Athens. The founder of the use of tropes and figures of speech in rhetoric. Legacy: "Praise to Elena", "Protection of Palamedes".

Lysias (445-380 BC)

Father of the art of judgment. His speeches were distinguished by clarity and brevity, 34 of them have survived to this day, among them: "Speech against Eratosthenes, a former member of the College of Thirty" and "Acquitory speech in the case of the murder of Eratosthenes." Eratosthenes was one of the thirty tyrants responsible for the death of his brother Lysias after the capture of Athens by Sparta.

Isocrates (436-338 BC)

One of the students of Gorgias, the founder of literary rhetoric. His speeches stood out for their simplicity, intelligibility of style for all Athenians. The most famous sayings are: "Panegyric" and "Panathenaic" speech. Isocrates’ understanding of why rhetoric is needed is reflected in the statement: “A true master of the word should not mess around with trifles and not only inspire listeners that it is useless for them, but that it will save them from poverty and bring great benefits to others.” He also owns the expression: "Learning is the sweet fruit of a bitter root."

The Sophists exalted the art of the word over the truth. Dialectics was understood as a competition for the sake of victory. The search for truth seemed meaningless, because such, according to the sophists, did not exist.

The teaching of Socrates makes us look at rhetoric in a new way. The search for truth and the acquisition of virtue become the main tasks. With his dialogues, called "Socratic irony", the philosopher led the interlocutor to the knowledge of himself. He taught thoughtfulness and morality. Socrates did not write works, but the works of his students, such as Plato and Xenophon, convey the thinker's sayings. For example: “No one wants evil”, “Virtue is knowledge”.

Plato in the 380s BC e. founded the Academy, which taught astronomy, philosophy, mathematics, geometry, as well as techniques that develop the spiritual qualities of a person. His teaching called for the abandonment of passions, for the sake of purifying the mind for knowledge. The sciences were taught by the dialectical method, and individualism developed.

Plato's rhetorical ideal is reflected in the statement: "Every speech must be composed like a living being." A clear structure of speech was implied, the ratio of the general to the particular. The philosopher especially valued clarity of speech and truth.

Aristotle is an ancient Greek thinker, a student of Plato. He spent 20 years at the Academy, later founded the Lyceum (named after the temple of Apollo of Lyceum), where he personally taught philosophy and rhetoric. With his treatise Rhetoric, Aristotle singled out the art of speech among other sciences, defined the principles for constructing speech and methods of proof. It is Aristotle who is considered the founder of rhetoric as a science.

In ancient Rome, the politician, philosopher and great orator Marcus Tullius Cicero contributed to the development of rhetoric. In the work Brutus or on famous orators, Cicero conveyed the history of rhetoric in names famous speakers. The treatise "On the Orator" forms the image of a worthy rhetor, uniting knowledge in history, philosophy and law. The work "Orator" is dedicated to the styles and rhythm of eloquence. Mark Tullius singled out rhetoric among other sciences, calling it the most difficult. In his understanding, the subject of rhetoric is as follows - the speaker must have deep knowledge in all areas in order to be able to support any dialogue.

Mark Fabius Quintilian, in his 12 book Rhetorical Instructions, analyzed rhetoric, supplementing it with his own conclusions regarding all its components. He appreciated the clarity of the style, the speaker's ability to arouse emotions in listeners. Rhetoric was defined by him as "the science of speaking well". Quintilian also added to the teachings of rhetoric, pointing out the importance of the non-verbal component.

Development of rhetoric in Russia

Russian rhetoric developed mainly on the basis of the Roman one. The need for rhetoric rose and fell with the change of political and social regimes.
How did Russian rhetoric develop over the centuries:

Ancient Russia (XII-XVII centuries). Until the 17th century, the term “rhetoric” did not exist in Russia, as well as teaching aids on it. However, there were rules. The ethics of speech, denoted by the terms: "eloquence", "eloquence" or "rhetoric". They studied the art of the word, guided by liturgical texts, the writings of preachers. For example, the collection "Bee" (XIII century).
First half of the 17th century. "The Tale of the Seven Free Wisdoms"; opening of Moscow advanced schools; Kyiv Theological Academy; 1620 - the first textbook on rhetoric in Russian; Books "On the invention of cases", "On decoration".
Late 17th – early and mid 18th centuries "Rhetoric" by Mikhail Usachev; Rhetoric Andrei Belobotsky; "Old Believer rhetoric"; treatises "Poetics", "Rhetoric", "Ethics, or the Science of Customs", as well as a number of lectures on the rhetorical art of Feofan Prokopovich.
XVIII century. Rhetoric as a science in Russia was formed by the works of Mikhail Vasilievich Lomonosov: "A Brief Guide to Rhetoric" (1743), "Rhetoric" (1748). Lomonosov's "Rhetoric" is a reader, a fundamental work in the development of this science.
Early and mid 19th century Until the middle of the nineteenth century, there was a rhetorical "boom" in Russia. The teachings of the word were published one after the other. The works of I.S. Riga, N.F. Koshansky, A.F. Merzlyakova, A.I. Galich, K.P. Zelensky, M.M. Speransky. In the second half of the century, rhetoric is being replaced by literature. AT Soviet time stylistics, linguistics, and the culture of the word are taught, while rhetoric is criticized.

The subject and tasks of rhetoric in the 21st century or why rhetoric is needed today

Our time is characterized high technology, versatile, accessible, relentlessly developing education system. This is the age of information and communication. The communicative abilities of a person, his desire for development, determine success in all spheres of life.

First of all, oratory skills will be useful for people in non-productive areas of activity - media workers, lawyers, psychologists, teachers, designers, sellers, etc.

But why do locksmiths, doctors, drivers need rhetoric? The answer is in the following question, each one will find for himself separately: What kind of person does not need to be able to think and own his own word?

The study of the basics of oratory, psychology, body language will be useful to anyone who strives for a full, comfortable life in society.