Voices on the horizon: A theory of ludic rhetoric begins with the assumption that rhetoric and play offer hope for cooperation and community in a fragmented and divided world. Rhetoric and play share an intellectual trajectory in the history of ideas. The earliest use of the terms rhetor and rhetoric in the Western tradition encouraged playful cooperation. The move toward reason and science during the Enlightenment relegated rhetoric to mere techniques for persuasion and silenced alternative avenues for seeking truth. Reclaiming traditional rhetoric as a meeting place for potential negotiation and cooperation encourages constructive civic discourse. The conclusion of this dissertation proposes that attention to the play of rhetoric in the history of ideas opens the possibility for teaching rhetorical theory as an appreciative praxis for the enrichment of others in discourse and encourages cooperation over consensus. This is ludic rhetoric.
","abstract_html":"<p><em>Voices on the horizon: A theory of ludic rhetoric </em>begins with the assumption that rhetoric and play offer hope for cooperation and community in a fragmented and divided world. Rhetoric and play share an intellectual trajectory in the history of ideas. The earliest use of the terms rhetor and rhetoric in the Western tradition encouraged playful cooperation. The move toward reason and science during the Enlightenment relegated rhetoric to mere techniques for persuasion and silenced alternative avenues for seeking truth. Reclaiming traditional rhetoric as a meeting place for potential negotiation and cooperation encourages constructive civic discourse. The conclusion of this dissertation proposes that attention to the play of rhetoric in the history of ideas opens the possibility for teaching rhetorical theory as an appreciative praxis for the enrichment of others in discourse and encourages cooperation over consensus. This is ludic rhetoric.</p>","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Lohr, Jeff"],"institution":null,"degree_name":"PhD","degree_level":"Immediate Access","degree_discipline":"Communication and Rhetorical Studies","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":["Ronald C. Arnett","Jean Hardin Fritz","Erik Garrett"],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2019,"date_issued":"2019-12-20T08:00:00Z","date_published":"2019-12-20T08:00:00Z","updated_at":"2026-07-24T02:10:58Z","subjects":["Play Rhetoric Ludic Kant Gadamer Bultmann Hermeneutics","Ancient History, Greek and Roman through Late Antiquity","Oral History","Other Arts and Humanities"],"languages":["English"],"rights":[],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://dsc.duq.edu/etd/1846","outbound_label":"Repository record","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor","label":"Contributor","values":["Ronald C. Arnett","Jean Hardin Fritz","Erik Garrett"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Lohr, Jeff"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date.available","label":"Dc Date Available","values":["2019-12-20T08:00:00Z"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["Communication and Rhetorical Studies"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Immediate Access"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["PhD"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["Play Rhetoric Ludic Kant Gadamer Bultmann Hermeneutics","Ancient History, Greek and Roman through Late Antiquity","Oral History","Other Arts and Humanities"]}]},{"id":"language_rights","label":"Language and Rights","entries":[{"key":"dc:language","label":"Dc Language","values":["English"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://dsc.duq.edu/etd/1846"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["Voices on the horizon: A theory of ludic rhetoric begins with the assumption that rhetoric and play offer hope for cooperation and community in a fragmented and divided world. Rhetoric and play share an intellectual trajectory in the history of ideas. The earliest use of the terms rhetor and rhetoric in the Western tradition encouraged playful cooperation. The move toward reason and science during the Enlightenment relegated rhetoric to mere techniques for persuasion and silenced alternative avenues for seeking truth. Reclaiming traditional rhetoric as a meeting place for potential negotiation and cooperation encourages constructive civic discourse. The conclusion of this dissertation proposes that attention to the play of rhetoric in the history of ideas opens the possibility for teaching rhetorical theory as an appreciative praxis for the enrichment of others in discourse and encourages cooperation over consensus. This is ludic rhetoric.
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