Histories of Ethos: World Perspectives on Rhetoric

The essays in this collection aim to waken contemporary discussions of ethos

(and of rhetoric generally) from their Western, classical-Aristotelian slumbers.

Western rhetoric was never univocal in its theory or practice of ethos: the essays

in this collection provide proof of this. The contributors aimed to shake rhetoric

out of its Eurocentrism: the traditions of Africa, the Middle East, and Asia sustain

their own models of ethos and lead us to reconsider rhetoric in its rich

variety-what ethos was, is, and will become. This collection is groundbreaking

in its attempt to outline the diversity of argument, trust, and authority beyond

a singular, dominant perspective.

This collection offers readers a choice of itineraries: thematic, geographic, and

historical. Essays may be read individually or cumulatively, as exercises in

comparative rhetoric. In taking a world perspective, Histories of Ethos will

prove a seminal discussion. Its comparative approach will help readers appreciate

the commonalities and the distinctions in competing cultural-discursive

practices-in what brings us together and what drives us apart as communities.

Additionally, it is the editors’ hope that, out of this historical, multicultural

dialogue, some new perspectives on ethos may come forward to broaden our

discussion and reach of understanding.