Robert Montgomery bird and the rhetoric of the improbable cause

Many scholars have argued that rhetorical theory and pedagogy should return to the neo-classical and agonistic theory and pedagogy of the antebellum era. The ability of proslavery ideology to dominate political and rhetorical practice, however, troubles any easy equation between that pedagogy and pr...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inRhetoric Society quarterly Vol. 35; no. 1; pp. 73 - 90
Main Author Roberts-Miller, Patricia
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Raleigh Taylor & Francis Group 01.01.2005
Rhetoric Society of America
Taylor & Francis Inc
Subjects
Antebellum period
Aristocracy
Bird, Robert Montgomery (1806-1854)
Civil wars
Educational theory
Ideology
Literary criticism
Literary rhetoric
Native Americans
Novels
Political rhetoric
Politics
Rhetoric
Slave ownership
Slavery
Slaves
Violence
War
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Summary:Many scholars have argued that rhetorical theory and pedagogy should return to the neo-classical and agonistic theory and pedagogy of the antebellum era. The ability of proslavery ideology to dominate political and rhetorical practice, however, troubles any easy equation between that pedagogy and practice. This article argues that agonism was hindered by the rhetoric of the improbable cause, a tragic metanarrative of novels like Nick of the Woods, which served as a defense of slavery and slaveocracy, without even mentioning the word, through reinforcing a foundation for that system. This view served to rationalize a system that had a dreamy, noble, and tragic ethos that was actually protected and supported by a brutal practicality; left out is something in the middle, the practical but principled argument about long-term politics.
ISSN:0277-3945
1930-322X
DOI:10.1080/02773940509391304