The prophetic tradition and radical rhetoric in America / / James Darsey.

• VerfasserIn: Darsey, James,
• Place / Publishing House: New York, NY : : New York University Press,, [1997]; ©1997
• Year of Publication: 1997
• Language: English
• Physical Description: 1 online resource (294 p.)
• Notes: Description based upon print version of record.

This expansive volume traces the rhetoric of reform across American history, examining such pivotal periods as the American Revolution, slavery, McCarthyism, and today's gay liberation movement. At a time when social movements led by religious leaders, from Louis Farrakhan to Pat Buchanan, are playing a central role in American politics, James Darsey connects this radical tradition with its prophetic roots. Public discourse in the West is derived from the Greek principles of civility, diplomacy, compromise, and negotiation. On this model, radical speech is often taken to be a symptom of social disorder. Not so, contends Darsey, who argues that the rhetoric of reform in America represents the continuation of a tradition separate from the commonly accepted principles of the Greeks. Though the links have gone unrecognized, the American radical tradition stems not from Aristotle, he maintains, but from the prophets of the Hebrew Bible.

Table of Contents

Front matter -- Contents -- Preface -- 1. Radical Rhetoric and American Community -- 2. Old Testament Prophecy as Radical Ursprach -- 3. Prophecy as Sacred Truth -- 4. Prophecy as Krisis -- 5. The Prophet's Call and His Burden -- 6. The Word in Darkness -- 7. A Vision of the Apocalypse -- 8. Prophecy as Poetry -- 9. Secular Argument and the Language of Commodity -- 10. The Seraph and the Snake -- Notes -- Index