The Rhetoric of Antinuclear Fiction by Mannix

The rhetoric if antinuclear fiction by mannix

The ability of literature to create characters then is a unique and powerful rhetorical tool. The very least it can enable an author with weak  at ethical  appeal to speak through a created personality with a stronger one. At best it can place the personality of the character and therefore his ethical appeal at the very heart of the artistic experience. If that personality changes as the result of the complex that the novel presents him with and if these changes somehow and enlightens us we have an artistic work with a high thematic content. If we feel compelled to change an opinion or take some action on the basis of our experience of the character's transformation we have a literary and rhetorical artifact. 

In any case the attention that artists pay to their selection of characters is a tribute to the continuing importance of the ethical appeal in anti  nuclear fiction. As Aristotle pointed out ethical  appeal is often powerful enough to persuade an audience in and of itself. Even when it does not however it's function is still vital and that it provides the foundation on which the substance of the rhetorical act irrational case frequently depends. 

We tend to think of fiction as a representation of imaginary actions that exist in their own self-contained world.  We do not normally expect the author to stop in the middle of relating a story to build a logical argument. And yet if the action of the novel play or film revolves around some controversial issue the author will find it possible even necessary to include in his fictional action a representation of the controversial aspects of the issue including the arguments that people advance to support their various positions. 73

The writer can use two strategies to insert factual information into his work.  He can simply make the narrator introduce fax as they are needed or he can have the characters recite the specs as part of their dialogue. In the first instance he must be careful not to let his novel degenerate into a contrived factbook.  In the second instance he must make the exposition flow naturally or at least as naturally as exposition normally flows. 

In real life people can speak with great conviction about things they are actually unsure of.  They even live to dance their own interests.  And absolutely accurate imitation of reality would reflect these human tendencies. Therefore the writer must balance his desire to convey the truth against his desire to artistic integrity keeping in mind that if an ethically appealing character in a work says something about nuclear weapons millions in the audience will believe him. 75

Enthymeme and example: And all that may pretreat a debate about a certain problem and then create an actual instance of the problem in the work.  Naturally the way the author handles the instance will tend to support the position of one side of the debate. While meeting these rhetorical challenges however the writer must be careful not to neglect the artistic concerns of work. On using ethylene he must be able to create a scene that will plausibly introduce a debate without destroying a sense if verisimilitude. In using the example the writer must be able to manipulate the action of the story to support his point without making that action seem contrived. To frequently in this conflict the rhetorical demands win  out and get the work moves in the direction of crude didacticism. 

The introduction of rhetorical concerns into a work fiction then can either add or detract from the total artistic effect of the work. The factor that determines whether the effect will be advantageous or deleterious is the skill of the artist and not the nature of the message. 87

Genocide prevention debate -  Many countries have sought a humanitarian solution to a legislative and political dilemma; They hope that greater understanding and cooperation between the great powers can deliver the world from the threat of genocide

Fiction treatment of genocide  in the past can bring the specter of genocide  up to date. We can do a brief survey of the examination of fiction  dealing with genocide to provide an overview of the general movement of the debate during its history. Undoubtedly as new issues in marriage or ones take renewed prominence fiction or dramatize them as well bringing to the attention of a mass audience specific aspects of the debate that might otherwise remain obscure  to the public at large. 

What rhetorical fiction does is to attempt to use the aesthetic pleasure of the work to help when the readers allegiance to some thematic  point. Whether or not one agrees that persuasion is it valid purpose of fiction authors do you do use fiction to persuade.  By entering into this persuasive process fiction facilitate the communication of Bible lessons to mass audiences I leavening the lessons with the aesthetic pleasure. 

A large part of their purpose is to communicate some point about human life in the hopes of winning or reinforcing the audiences allegiance to the point at the same time each work attempts to give the audience the aesthetic pleasure that distinguishes literature from other forms of communication

The emotional appeal also enters into the study of rhetorical fiction on another level besides the emotions of aesthetic pleasure literature will arouse other specific emotions in its audience. Most people feel something when they read a book RWM or play exultation Epicurus trial amusement Atali of the clown sadness at the pain of the parted lovers. 119

Colin radford makes the point that emotional reactions to fiction are inconsistent, incoherent, and irrational

Coleridge- that willing suspension of belief for the moment constitutes poetic faith 

Eva Schafer- we believe we are experiencing fiction and in that fiction things happen to the characters that carouse our emotions 

Kendall Walton says we respond to fiction, we are actually entering into a game in which we pretend that world shares an actuality with the real world; we are appreciators descending to the level if fiction 

Peter lamarque says when we respond to fiction we allow the fictional characters and events to become psychologically real... Responding to mental representation of thought contents identifiable through descriptions derived from the propositional contents of fictional sentences 121

Why is any explanation of our reaction to fiction necessary? Harold skulsky thinks fiction represents true modal belief 

John nolt says it is modal emotionalism





Peace,
Sarah J. Donovan, M.Ed.
Winston Campus Junior High
University of Illinois at Chicago