人文学科的修辞转向和修辞学的批判性转向

On the Rhetorical Turn of the Humanities and the Critical Turn of Rhetoric

科学主义之所以能大行其道,原因就在于话语中的主体和客体张力被特定的修辞手段化解了,"修辞转向"指的就是修辞在社会现实文本化过程中的作用被人们重新认识。人文学科发生的修辞转向使一度被边缘化了的修辞学重新获得了社会现实的关联性,而批判理论和社会理论为其重新进行社会参与提供了理论基础。西方修辞学者运用社会、批判理论的一些基本概念拓展传统修辞学的内涵和方法,成功地演绎、发展出了一套与批判理论相结合的修辞学新方法,使修辞学发生了批判性转向,为古老的修辞学开辟了新的研究和实践内容,为修辞学的发展提供了新的契机。读者定位、文本的视角定位等则是转向后的修辞分析的切入点。不过值得注意的是,虽然修辞学的批判性转向大大拓展了修辞学的内涵,但它也模糊了和相关学科的界线。

One of the main reasons for the traditional sclentism to be capable of creating such a powerful objective myth is that rhetoric has covered up the discursive traces of subjective reconstruction of social reality. The tension between subjectivity and objectivity has been neutralized in the process of rhetoricalization. The rhetorical turn discussed in the present paper refers to the growing critical awareness on the part of the humanities of such a role rhetoric plays in the discursive reconstruction. The turn has offered enormous opportunities of development for the marginalized ancient rhetoric, which has risen to the occasion by making use of social and critical theories and has developed a new kit of analytical tools, thus managing a critical turn to revitalize the old academic discipline. With the critical turn, rhetoric has found its social relevance and perhaps more importantly its discursive voice in the age of science. In the discussion of the two turns, the paper will also address the differences between ＂the linguistic turn＂ and ＂the rhetorical turn＂, and outline some basic rhetorical critical procedures such as reader positioning, perspectivization, definition, multivocality, evidencing. It is noted in the conclusion that the critical turn for rhetoric is not without any risk because the spate of borrowings from other disciplines can be hazardous to its autonomy.