Brooke Rollins | Lehigh University (original) (raw)
https://ohiostatepress.org/books/titles/9780814214244.html
I am an associate professor of English at Lehigh University, where I teach courses in the history of rhetoric, rhetorical theory, critical theory, and issues in the teaching of writing. My work has appeared in College English, Rhetoric Society Quarterly, jac: A Journal of Rhetoric, Culture & Politics, and The Velvet Light Trap. My book, The Ethics of Persuasion: Derrida’s Rhetorical Legacies (The Ohio State University Press, 2020), brings together the thought of Jacques Derrida and the classical rhetorical tradition to demonstrate the significant rhetorical dimensions of deconstruction and the surprising ethical priority of an ancient discipline known for its utilitarian focus on persuasion. I have also begun working on a new project that theorizes the interruptive capacities of gambling and its effects on human subjectivity.
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Books by Brooke Rollins
The Ethics of Persuasion: Derrida's Rhetorical Legacies, 2020
The Ethics of Persuasion challenges the traditional thinking that rhetoric is primarily a utilita... more The Ethics of Persuasion challenges the traditional thinking that rhetoric is primarily a utilitarian art built on force and adorned with linguistic ornamentation. The book brings the thought of philosopher Jacques Derrida to a handful of foundational texts in the classical rhetorical tradition to demonstrate the surprising ethical priority of a discipline known for its focus on persuasion. And along the way, it demonstrates the significant rhetorical dimensions of deconstruction, reviving the case that Derrida has much to offer the field of rhetoric. Drawing on Derrida’s (non)definition of ethics and his pointed accounts of performativity, The Ethics of Persuasion argues that ancient theories, practices, and pedagogies of persuasion have a vital ethical component that has been under-theorized for more than two millennia. Through deconstructive readings of some of the rhetorical tradition’s most esteemed texts on persuasion—highly determined pieces by Gorgias, Lysias, Isocrates, and Plato—the book suggests that an ethics emerges from even the most forceful instances of persuasion, showing us that we are not simply sovereign beings who by turns wield and guard against linguistic techniques of rule. Our persuasive endeavors, rather, are made possible by an ethics—an encounter with otherness that interrupts self-presence.
The Ethics of Persuasion: Derrida's Rhetorical Legacies, 2020
Available for order online at Amazon and our website: ohiostatepress.org or call (800-621-2736).
Papers by Brooke Rollins
Available for order online at Amazon and our website: ohiostatepress.org or call (800-621-2736).
Rhetor Soc Q, 2005
I identify three modern approaches used to theorize epideictic rhetoric and suggest that each app... more I identify three modern approaches used to theorize epideictic rhetoric and suggest that each approach has difficulty dealing with the category of presence assigned to the genre by Aristotle. Drawing on Thucydides and, through him, Pericles' funeral oration, I suggest that Jacques Derrida's funeral speeches provide a way of rethinking the epideictic genre's presence as rhetorical ethics. More specifically, I argue that the function of presence in epideictic rhetoric is to provide an ethical interruption, and that Derrida, as one of our most accomplished funeral orators, helps us clarify the category of presence as it is described in Aristotle's and Thucydides' discussions of epideictic oratory.
Responding to the Sacred: An Inquiry into the Limits of Rhetoric, 2021
One of the most compelling-and idealized-narratives of the rhetorical tradition extols rhetoric a... more One of the most compelling-and idealized-narratives of the rhetorical tradition extols rhetoric as an alternative to violence. In this narrative, rhetoric holds a noble and privileged place: Argumentation and discourse can settle heated debates before situations devolve into bared fists, flashing knives, or deployed troops. Cicero's well-known version of this account holds that the highest articulation of humanist ideals are realized when persuasion-not force-is the instrument of political power. This classical opposition between rhetoric and force applies even to powerful systems of domination. An orator who successfully combines wisdom and eloquence can equalize asymmetrical power relations, making his voice heard despite the oppressive regime that wishes to silence it. For all of these reasons, according to this narrative, rhetoric possesses a high moral purpose because it can both prevent bloodshed and resist domination.
I identify three modern approaches used to theorize epideictic rhetoric and suggest that each app... more I identify three modern approaches used to theorize epideictic rhetoric and suggest that each approach has difficulty dealing with the category of presence assigned to the genre by Aristotle. Drawing on Thucydides and, through him, Pericles' funeral oration, I suggest that Jacques Derrida's funeral speeches provide a way of rethinking the epideictic genre's presence as rhetorical ethics. More specifically, I argue that the function of presence in epideictic rhetoric is to provide an ethical interruption, and that Derrida, as one of our most accomplished funeral orators, helps us clarify the category of presence as it is described in Aristotle's and Thucydides' discussions of epideictic oratory.
Book Reviews by Brooke Rollins
The Ethics of Persuasion: Derrida's Rhetorical Legacies, 2020
The Ethics of Persuasion challenges the traditional thinking that rhetoric is primarily a utilita... more The Ethics of Persuasion challenges the traditional thinking that rhetoric is primarily a utilitarian art built on force and adorned with linguistic ornamentation. The book brings the thought of philosopher Jacques Derrida to a handful of foundational texts in the classical rhetorical tradition to demonstrate the surprising ethical priority of a discipline known for its focus on persuasion. And along the way, it demonstrates the significant rhetorical dimensions of deconstruction, reviving the case that Derrida has much to offer the field of rhetoric. Drawing on Derrida’s (non)definition of ethics and his pointed accounts of performativity, The Ethics of Persuasion argues that ancient theories, practices, and pedagogies of persuasion have a vital ethical component that has been under-theorized for more than two millennia. Through deconstructive readings of some of the rhetorical tradition’s most esteemed texts on persuasion—highly determined pieces by Gorgias, Lysias, Isocrates, and Plato—the book suggests that an ethics emerges from even the most forceful instances of persuasion, showing us that we are not simply sovereign beings who by turns wield and guard against linguistic techniques of rule. Our persuasive endeavors, rather, are made possible by an ethics—an encounter with otherness that interrupts self-presence.
The Ethics of Persuasion: Derrida's Rhetorical Legacies, 2020
Available for order online at Amazon and our website: ohiostatepress.org or call (800-621-2736).
Available for order online at Amazon and our website: ohiostatepress.org or call (800-621-2736).
Rhetor Soc Q, 2005
I identify three modern approaches used to theorize epideictic rhetoric and suggest that each app... more I identify three modern approaches used to theorize epideictic rhetoric and suggest that each approach has difficulty dealing with the category of presence assigned to the genre by Aristotle. Drawing on Thucydides and, through him, Pericles' funeral oration, I suggest that Jacques Derrida's funeral speeches provide a way of rethinking the epideictic genre's presence as rhetorical ethics. More specifically, I argue that the function of presence in epideictic rhetoric is to provide an ethical interruption, and that Derrida, as one of our most accomplished funeral orators, helps us clarify the category of presence as it is described in Aristotle's and Thucydides' discussions of epideictic oratory.
Responding to the Sacred: An Inquiry into the Limits of Rhetoric, 2021
One of the most compelling-and idealized-narratives of the rhetorical tradition extols rhetoric a... more One of the most compelling-and idealized-narratives of the rhetorical tradition extols rhetoric as an alternative to violence. In this narrative, rhetoric holds a noble and privileged place: Argumentation and discourse can settle heated debates before situations devolve into bared fists, flashing knives, or deployed troops. Cicero's well-known version of this account holds that the highest articulation of humanist ideals are realized when persuasion-not force-is the instrument of political power. This classical opposition between rhetoric and force applies even to powerful systems of domination. An orator who successfully combines wisdom and eloquence can equalize asymmetrical power relations, making his voice heard despite the oppressive regime that wishes to silence it. For all of these reasons, according to this narrative, rhetoric possesses a high moral purpose because it can both prevent bloodshed and resist domination.
I identify three modern approaches used to theorize epideictic rhetoric and suggest that each app... more I identify three modern approaches used to theorize epideictic rhetoric and suggest that each approach has difficulty dealing with the category of presence assigned to the genre by Aristotle. Drawing on Thucydides and, through him, Pericles' funeral oration, I suggest that Jacques Derrida's funeral speeches provide a way of rethinking the epideictic genre's presence as rhetorical ethics. More specifically, I argue that the function of presence in epideictic rhetoric is to provide an ethical interruption, and that Derrida, as one of our most accomplished funeral orators, helps us clarify the category of presence as it is described in Aristotle's and Thucydides' discussions of epideictic oratory.