论文信息 - Transforming scandal into tragedy: A rhetoric of political apology

Transforming scandal into tragedy: A rhetoric of political apology

This essay claims that Richard Nixon, Edward Kennedy, and their apologists drew upon popular meanings of tragedy and other related terms of fiction to obscure moral responsibility for behavior connected with Watergate and Chappaquiddick. In general, the media uncritically accepted and imitated this misappropriation of fictional language and thereby contributed to a dubious rhetorical strategy of exculpation. The unstated arguments derived from the morally positive and formally satisfying suggestions of tragedy are explored and rhetorical critics are advised to be alert to similar confusion in public discourse.

Robert L. King | R. King

[1] B. L. Ware,et al. They spoke in defense of themselves: On the generic criticism of apologia , 1973 .

[2] G. Steiner,et al. The death of tragedy , 1961 .

[3] W. Fisher. Reaffirmation and subversion of the American dream , 1973 .

[4] Henry A. Kissinger,et al. Years of upheaval , 1982 .

[5] K. Burke. A grammar of motives and a rhetoric of motives , 1962 .

[6] Alan Blum. Tragedy and Comedy , 2016 .

[7] H. H. Martin. A generic exploration: Staged withdrawal, the rhetoric of resignation , 1976 .

[8] Richard M. Nixon,et al. RN: The Memoirs of Richard Nixon , 1978 .

[9] W. Fisher. Narration As a Human Communication Paradigm: The Case of Public Moral Argument , 1984 .

[10] Wil A. Linkugel,et al. Failure of apology in American politics: Nixon on Watergate , 1975 .

[11] B. Woodward,et al. The Final Days , 1976 .

[12] Gerald L. Wilson. A strategy of explanation: Richard M. Nixon's August 8, 1974, resignation address , 1976 .

[13] David A. Ling. A pentadic analysis of senator Edward Kennedy's address to the people of massachusetts, July 25, 1969 , 1970 .