Gestalt psychological theory's value in rhetorical criticism |
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| Authors: | Mark H Wright |
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| Institution: | Associate Professor of Communication , Tsuda College , Tokyo, Japan |
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| Abstract: | Rhetorical critics should avoid affirming the constancy hypothesis, the belief that a stimulus contains the response. After foregrounding Burke's avoidance of the constancy hypothesis in Permanance and Change as a model for rhetorical critics, this essay examines five examples of affirmation of the constancy hypothesis in rhetorical criticism. Affirming the hypothesis oversimplifies complex audience dynamics and prevents critics from understanding infrequent, more unified audience responses. |
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| Keywords: | Gestalt psychology Burke Kenneth rhetorical criticism constancy hypothesis ideographs mythic criticism |
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