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Figuratively Speaking
Rhetoric and Culture from Quintilian to the Twin Towers
Introduction
Although rhetoric is a term often associated with lies, this book takes a polemical look at rhetoric as a purveyor of truth. Its purpose is to focus on one aspect of rhetoric, figurative speech, and to demonstrate how the treatment of figures of speech provides a common denominator among western cultures from Cicero to the present.
Central Idea
The central idea is that, in the western tradition, figurative speech - using language to do more than name - provides the fundamental way for language to articulate concerns central to each cultural moment.
Scope of the Study
In this study, Sarah Spence identifies the embedded tropes for four periods in Western culture: Roman antiquity, the High Middle Ages, the Age of Montaigne, and our present, post-9/11 moment.
Conclusion
In so doing, she reasserts the fundamental importance of rhetoric, the art of speaking well.
