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    Post-Truth Rhetoric and Composition
    Post-Truth Rhetoric and Composition
    Post-Truth Rhetoric and Composition
    Ebook64 pages2 hours

    Post-Truth Rhetoric and Composition

    By Bruce Mccomiskey

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    About this ebook

    Post-Truth Rhetoric and Composition is a timely exploration of the increasingly widespread and disturbing effect of “post-truth” on public discourse in the United States. Bruce McComiskey analyzes the instances of bullshit, fake news, feigned ethos, hyperbole, and other forms of post-truth rhetoric employed in recent political discourse.

    The book frames “post-truth” within rhetorical theory, referring to the classic triad of logos, ethos, and pathos. McComiskey shows that it is the loss of grounding in logos that exposes us to the dangers of post-truth. As logos is the realm of fact, logic, truth, and valid reasoning, Western society faces increased risks—including violence, unchecked libel, and tainted elections—when the value of reason is diminished and audiences allow themselves to be swayed by pathos and ethos. Evaluations of truth are deferred or avoided, and mendacity convincingly masquerades as a valid form of argument.

    In a post-truth world, where neither truth nor falsehood has reliable meaning, language becomes purely strategic, without reference to anything other than itself. This scenario has serious consequences not only for our public discourse but also for the study of composition.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherUtah State University Press
    Release dateNov 1, 2017
    ISBN9781607327455
    Post-Truth Rhetoric and Composition

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      Book preview

      Post-Truth Rhetoric and Composition - Bruce Mccomiskey

      Post-Truth Rhetoric and Composition

      Post-Truth Rhetoric and Composition

      Bruce McComiskey

      Current Arguments in Composition

      Utah State University Press

      Logan

      © 2017 by University Press of Colorado

      All rights reserved

      Published by Utah State University Press

      An imprint of University Press of Colorado

      5589 Arapahoe Avenue, Suite 206C

      Boulder, Colorado 80303

      AAUP logo The University Press of Colorado is a proud member of The Association of American University Presses.

      The University Press of Colorado is a cooperative publishing enterprise supported, in part, by Adams State University, Colorado State University, Fort Lewis College, Metropolitan State University of Denver, Regis University, University of Colorado, University of Northern Colorado, Utah State University, and Western State Colorado University.

      USU Press Current Arguments in Composition

      DOI: 10.7330/9781607327455

      ISBN 978-1-60732-744-8 (pbk.: alk. paper)

      E-ISBN 978-1-60732-745-5 (e-book)

      Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

      Names: McComiskey, Bruce, 1963– author.

      Title: Post-truth rhetoric and composition / Bruce McComiskey.

      Description: Logan : Utah State University Press, [2017] | Includes bibliographical references.

      Identifiers: LCCN 2017023340| ISBN 9781607327448 (pbk.) | ISBN 9781607327455 (ebook)

      Subjects: LCSH: Presidents—United States—Election—2016. | Truthfulness and falsehood—Political aspects—United States—History—21st century. | Rhetoric—Political aspects—United States—History—21st century. | Communication in politics—United States—History—21st century. | English language—Rhetoric—Study and teaching (Higher)—United States.

      Classification: LCC E911 .M39 2017 | DDC 324.973/0905—dc23

      LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2017023340

      Contents

      Post-Truth Rhetoric

      Bullshit

      Fake News

      Ethos (at the Expense of Logos)

      Pathos (at the Expense of Logos)

      The Trump Effect

      Post-Truth Composition

      Consequences of Neglecting to Act

      Notes

      References

      About the Author

      Post-Truth Rhetoric and Composition

      Post-Truth Rhetoric and Composition

      On November 8, 2016, the United States of America elected real estate mogul Donald J. Trump to be its forty-fifth president. Trump did not win this election in the usual way, with an occasional negative ad but in general using sincere argumentation and ethical persuasion in order to demonstrate that he has the most relevant experience and the best plan to move the country forward. Instead, Trump won the election using unethical rhetorical strategies like alt-right fake news, vague social media posts, policy reversals, denials of meaning, attacks on media credibility, name-calling, and so on. All of these unethical rhetorical strategies, constantly televised and repeated throughout the year-long campaign and election cycle, have deeply affected public discourse in general, not just Trump’s personal use of it. The Southern Poverty Law Center and others call this negative influence of Trump’s rhetoric on social institutions and cultural interactions the Trump effect, or a generalized increase in violence and hatred throughout the country.

      Trump’s campaign and election represent a rhetorical watershed moment in two ways: first, there has been a shift in the way that powerful people use unethical rhetoric to accomplish their goals; and, second, there has been a shift in the way that public audiences consume unethical rhetoric. Not surprisingly, the organizations that are most committed to promoting and teaching ethical rhetoric and writing have viewed this rhetorical watershed moment as a direct challenge to their missions and as an exigence for calls to rhetorical action.

      On November 21, 2016, Gregory Clark, president of the Rhetoric Society of America (RSA), emailed a message to all RSA members on the organization’s listserv, and this message was subsequently posted on the RSA website.¹ In this statement, Clark identifies the rancorous election as a powerful exigence for an ethical response. Clark’s response to this rancor, which was also rhetorically successful (resulting in Trump’s election), emphasizes RSA’s core values: diversity, inclusion, and respect. The very fact that Clark felt the need to reaffirm these values signifies a certain anxiety that Trump’s successful rhetoric represents a direct challenge to RSA and its rhetorical mission.

      On the very next day, November 22, 2016, Susan Miller-Cochran, president of the Council of Writing Program Administrators (CWPA), sent a message over the WPA-L listserv, reaffirming that organization’s core values and condemning the negative rhetorical strategies that were so divisive and so successful throughout the 2016 campaign and election process.² The CWPA statement is similar to the RSA statement since it reinforces CWPA’s core values—diversity and inclusiveness—in the wake of a campaign that succeeded by exploiting latent xenophobia. The CWPA statement is different from the RSA statement, however, since it directly condemns institutionalized inequality, and it calls upon its members to explicitly act against the structures that cause injustice today. The CWPA statement

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