The Enthymeme as Postmodern Argument Form: Condensed, Mediated Argument then and now

Aden, Roger C.

doi:10.1080/00028533.1994.11951600

“…The coding protocol thus used a liberal operationalization of opinion justification. By using an operationalization that does not demand a fully developed argument and captures also the condensed forms of argument typical of postmodern mediated discourse (see Aden, ), the coding provided for a hard test of the expectation that shorter statements of opinion are less likely to include justificatory support. In other words, reductions in opinion occurrence as measured by the coding instrument always indicated the complete absence of any uttered justification, not just the presence of some reduced form of argumentative support.…”

Section: Design and Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Impact of Sound-Bite Journalism on Public Argument

Rinke¹

2016

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The rise of sound-bite news is one of the most widely bemoaned findings in political communication research. Yet, the detrimental effects of this trend have been more assumed than demonstrated. This study examines one consequence of sound-bite journalism: the creation of incomplete argument, in which speakers presenting their political position in the news do not also justify it. Drawing on data about television news in Germany, Russia, and the United States, it shows that shrinking sound bites consistently reduce the probability of opinion justification across widely differing national contexts. Sound-bite journalism emerges as harmful to television news' ability to produce public justification.

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“…The coding protocol thus used a liberal operationalization of opinion justification. By using an operationalization that does not demand a fully developed argument and captures also the condensed forms of argument typical of postmodern mediated discourse (see Aden, 1994), the coding provided for a hard test of the expectation that shorter statements of opinion are less likely to include justificatory support.…”

Section: Design and Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Impact of Sound-Bite Journalism on Public Argument

Rinke¹

2016

Preprint

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View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The rise of sound-bite news is one of the most widely bemoaned findings in political communication research. Yet, the detrimental effects of this trend have been more assumed than demonstrated. This study examines one consequence of sound-bite journalism: the creation of incomplete argument, in which speakers presenting their political position in the news do not also justify it. Drawing on data about television news in Germany, Russia, and the United States, it shows that shrinking sound bites consistently reduce the probability of opinion justification across widely differing national contexts. Sound-bite journalism emerges as harmful to television news' ability to produce public justification.

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“…An enthymeme may highlight the argument “Joe is a liar, so Joe is a coward,” identifying the warrant “all liars are cowards” as unexpressed (Madden 1952, 368). In other words, scholars interrogate the incomplete nature of enthymemes that logically hide a part supplied by audiences (Aden ).…”

Section: Crises Enthymemes and Joking Rhetoricmentioning

confidence: 99%

Comedian‐in‐Chief: Presidential Jokes as Enthymematic Crisis Rhetoric

Waisanen

¹

2015

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To understand how jokes have functioned as part of U.S. presidents' strategic communication, this project examined every available White House Correspondents' Dinner (WHCD) speech over the last century, documenting various presidents' approaches to humor. I argue that the ability to talk about difficult or taboo subjects through jokes' deeply enthymematic ways of communicating has offered presidents expanded rhetorical spaces during crises, providing insights into why they started using humor with such routine frequency. Working with multiple factors shaping the modern presidency, presidents have used the elastic and inventive nature of enthymematic joking in attempts to move pressing issues outside immediate lines of criticism. The use of jokes in presidential communication is charted through three periods of WHCD. Several implications are drawn from this analysis, including the risks of humor as a rhetorical strategy.

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The Enthymeme as Postmodern Argument Form: Condensed, Mediated Argument then and now

Cited by 16 publications

References 16 publications

The Impact of Sound-Bite Journalism on Public Argument

The Impact of Sound-Bite Journalism on Public Argument

The Impact of Sound-Bite Journalism on Public Argument

Comedian‐in‐Chief: Presidential Jokes as Enthymematic Crisis Rhetoric

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