Renaissance Debates on Rhetoric

by Wayne A. Rebhorn (Translator)

Throughout the European Renaissance, authors famous and obscure debated the nature, goals, and value of rhetoric. In a host of treatises, handbooks, letters, and orations, written in both Latin and the vernacular, they attempted to assess the central role that rhetoric clearly played in their culture. Was rhetoric a valuable tool of legitimation for rulers or a dangerous instrument of resistance to political and religious authority? Would its employment maintain the social hierarchy or foster social mobility? Was rhetoric merely the art of lies or was it a means to arrive at the only form of truth available to human beings? In this fascinating volume, Wayne A. Rebhorn enables modern-day readers to follow Renaissance thinkers as they struggle with these and other crucial questions about rhetoric. Arranged chronologically, the twenty-five selections in this anthology, most of which have never before appeared in English, include key texts by Petrarch, Valla, Erasmus, Vives, Melanchthon, Ramus, Wilson, Amyot, and Bacon. All the selections have been fully annotated and have headnotes providing essential background information. In addition, the volume features a biographical glossary of frequently mentioned historical and mythological figures, a comprehensive index, and a detailed bibliography.

336 pages, Paperback

First published December 1, 1999

About the author

Wayne A. Rebhorn is the Celanese Centennial Professor of English at the University of Texas, where he teaches English, Italian, and comparative literature. His translation of Boccaccio’s Decameron won the 2014 PEN Center USA’s Literary Award for Translation.

Reviews

[Mary · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a fun conversation! Not only do these writers debate with each other, but they all engage in some sort of dialogue--with Cicero, Plato, St. Jerome, beloved correspondents, constructed interlocutors, France in general, etc. Fun to trace some of the classic rhetoric debates: rhet. v. phil., morality of rhetoric, rhetoric v. poetics, rhetoric's connection to democracy and/or demagoguery, France's rhetorical capacities, etc.

The annotations and historic/mythic glossary are wonderful for connections to classical sources.

[Lisette · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a good peek into the wildly debated world of rhetoric. This collection is also a great doorway into the subject of rhetoric. Some essays are a quite dry (I'm looking at you Ramus) while others were insightful (Erasmus, et al) or funny (Jewel). All in all, this book is a nice peek into the history of rhetoric.

[David Loveland · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was generally interesting and relevant reading for my dissertation on the rhetoric of Shakespeare, and I'm sure I'll quote from this book several times.

[Kelly · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've only picked and chosen among the essays, but I will definitely return. Fantastic read, both choice of selections and explanatory material.