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- Title
Magic, Mimesis, and Revolutionary Praxis: Illuminating Walter Benjamin's Rhetoric of Redemption.
- Authors
DeChaine, D. Robert
- Abstract
This essay illuminates the rhetorical contributions of Walter Benjamin, a critical intellectual whose insights about the liberatory role of the engaged social agent warrant closer attention in our discipline. In his written discourse, Benjamin attempted to develop a powerful means of social critique, the ethos of which I argue is propelled by a revolutionary rhetoric of redemption. Infusing a radical Messianic vision of a return to wholeness and purity with a concern for the living, breathing, historically situated actor, Benjamin made a unique case for the decisive function of critical intervention. As a forerunner to contemporary critical rhetorical studies, his ideas provide fruitful avenues for examining contemporary texts and rhetorical issues.
- Subjects
BENJAMIN, Walter, 1892-1940; RHETORICAL criticism; REDEMPTION
- Publication
Western Journal of Communication, 2000, Vol 64, Issue 3, p285
- ISSN
1057-0314
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.1080/10570310009374677