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Authors: Richard Andrews
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Vygotsky [1991], Bakhtin 1982) is ambitious and beyond the scope of the present book, which concentrates, or rather embodies, these further dimensions in what we choose not to call “literate activity” but
acts of communication
and
textual practices
. But the spirit of the conception is acknowledged in the present book in the attempt to build a theoryof rhetoric that is light on apparatus but strong in structure, relevant to everyday and cultural interaction (production and reception), and fit for purpose. The aim of the present book, then, is to design a theory that does not construct its own edifice of theory through terminology and classification, but is grounded, useable, “elegant,” and ultimately disposable. The analogy is with the field of light structural engineering, which specializes in temporary structures.
Why are we eschewing the chance to build a more comprehensive model of rhetoric of the kind posited by Prior et al. (2013)? Part of the reason is that we would not wish to appropriate what is an innovative and brilliant conception. The other part is that the particular function of our enterprise is to construct a working theory and model of rhetoric that has parameters and limitations. Its limitations are defined by the edge of
communicative relevance
and its admittedly communication-focused nature. Communication, in the conception of rhetoric that informs the present book, is the heart of the matter. The social and political nature of rhetoric is embodied in acts of communication, and the book makes no attempt to draw a theory of ecology of resource, the economics of time or attention, the sociology of human interaction, or the dynamics of institutional politics, though all of these bear upon the field of rhetoric and the acts of communication within that field. In this way, the aim of the present book is to depict the operation of rhetoric in its full semiotic sense but not encroaching upon the fields of human feeling and experience, disciplinary and inter-disciplinary engagement, or ecologies of the natural and made worlds. Rhetoric has much to say about all of these, but it remains an art of communication as a means to ends, not the ends of thought and/or action in themselves.
Where the conception of a cultural-historical conception does bear upon rhetoric, and where it is hard to exclude a particular perspective from those listed previously as “outside” rhetoric, it is with regard to the economics of attention and the close association of that concept with learning. The economics of attention means the use of, and choices from, the limited resources of attention that any one person has during a day, week, or any length of time (ultimately, a lifetime). Attention means the degree of conscious concentration that is used in response to any situation—from flickering and marginal consciousness at one end of the spectrum to the deep or high (according to the metaphorical take) concentration that is deployed in an act of artistic, sporting, intellectual, spiritual, and/or personal engagement. There is no significant purpose, in such a notion, of separating the conscious from the unconscious: both may be at play in an act of attention. In terms of learning, the economics of attention is crucial, not only in distinguishing learning from other states of being, but also in understanding that transformational learning might well be directly linked to the quality of attention that is brought to theact. Getting people's attention is another aspect of the economics of attention, in that marketing companies, instructors and teachers, the media, and family and friends vie for attention. Some people react by being able to concentrate on activities that require a great deal of undivided attention; others are good at attending to multiple demands at the same time. What is significant for rhetoric in both the economics of attention of the individual, and also for those working to try to attract attention of the
acts of communication
and
textual practices
. But the spirit of the conception is acknowledged in the present book in the attempt to build a theoryof rhetoric that is light on apparatus but strong in structure, relevant to everyday and cultural interaction (production and reception), and fit for purpose. The aim of the present book, then, is to design a theory that does not construct its own edifice of theory through terminology and classification, but is grounded, useable, “elegant,” and ultimately disposable. The analogy is with the field of light structural engineering, which specializes in temporary structures.
Why are we eschewing the chance to build a more comprehensive model of rhetoric of the kind posited by Prior et al. (2013)? Part of the reason is that we would not wish to appropriate what is an innovative and brilliant conception. The other part is that the particular function of our enterprise is to construct a working theory and model of rhetoric that has parameters and limitations. Its limitations are defined by the edge of
communicative relevance
and its admittedly communication-focused nature. Communication, in the conception of rhetoric that informs the present book, is the heart of the matter. The social and political nature of rhetoric is embodied in acts of communication, and the book makes no attempt to draw a theory of ecology of resource, the economics of time or attention, the sociology of human interaction, or the dynamics of institutional politics, though all of these bear upon the field of rhetoric and the acts of communication within that field. In this way, the aim of the present book is to depict the operation of rhetoric in its full semiotic sense but not encroaching upon the fields of human feeling and experience, disciplinary and inter-disciplinary engagement, or ecologies of the natural and made worlds. Rhetoric has much to say about all of these, but it remains an art of communication as a means to ends, not the ends of thought and/or action in themselves.
Where the conception of a cultural-historical conception does bear upon rhetoric, and where it is hard to exclude a particular perspective from those listed previously as “outside” rhetoric, it is with regard to the economics of attention and the close association of that concept with learning. The economics of attention means the use of, and choices from, the limited resources of attention that any one person has during a day, week, or any length of time (ultimately, a lifetime). Attention means the degree of conscious concentration that is used in response to any situation—from flickering and marginal consciousness at one end of the spectrum to the deep or high (according to the metaphorical take) concentration that is deployed in an act of artistic, sporting, intellectual, spiritual, and/or personal engagement. There is no significant purpose, in such a notion, of separating the conscious from the unconscious: both may be at play in an act of attention. In terms of learning, the economics of attention is crucial, not only in distinguishing learning from other states of being, but also in understanding that transformational learning might well be directly linked to the quality of attention that is brought to theact. Getting people's attention is another aspect of the economics of attention, in that marketing companies, instructors and teachers, the media, and family and friends vie for attention. Some people react by being able to concentrate on activities that require a great deal of undivided attention; others are good at attending to multiple demands at the same time. What is significant for rhetoric in both the economics of attention of the individual, and also for those working to try to attract attention of the
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