Martin J. Medhurst is Distinguished Professor of Rhetoric and Communication at Baylor University in Waco, Texas. He is the author or editor of ten books, is a frequent contributor to journals in rhetoric and communication studies and has published 60 articles/chapters. Medhurst is the founding editor of the journal "Rhetoric & Public Affairs" and of the scholarly book series of the same title, both published by Michigan State University Press. He currently serves as the general editor of the ten volume series, A Rhetorical History of the United States, and as general editor of the Presidential Rhetoric book series, the Library of Presidential Rhetoric monograph series, and the Landmark Speeches monograph series.
Medhurst is the recipient of several honors and awards, including the 2005 National Communications Association Distinguished Scholar Award; the Paul Boase Prize for Scholarship; 1995 National Communication Association Marie Hochmuth Nichols Award for Outstanding Book or Monograph (for "Eisenhower's War of Words"); the National Communication Association Golden Anniversary Monograph Award for Outstanding Scholarship (with Michael A. DeSousa); and the Religious Communication Association Publication Award.
Robert L. Ivie is Professor and Chair of the Department of Speech Communication at Indiana University.
Philip Wander is Professor of Communication Studies at San Jose State University.
Robert L. Scott is Professor of Speech Communication at the University of Minnesota.
Scott is Professor of Speech Communication.
Philip Wander is Professor of Communication Studies at San Jose State University.
Robert L. Ivie is Professor and Chair of the Department of Speech Communication at Indiana University.
This work brings a sustained rhetorical critique to bear on central texts of the Cold War. The rhetorical texts that are the subject of this book include speeches by Presidents Eisenhower and Kennedy, the Murrow-McCarthy confrontation on CBS, the speeches and writings of peace advocates, and the recurring theme of UnAmericanism as it has been expressed in various media throughout the Cold War years. Each of the authors brings to his texts a particular approach to rhetorical criticism - strategic, metaphorical, or ideological. Each provides an introductory chapter on methodology that explains the assumptions and strengths of his particular approach. Martin J.Medhurst describes the assumptions and working hypotheses of strategic analysis and then illustrates them with two critical case studies, one focusing on Eisnehower's "Atoms for Peace" speech, and the other on Kennedy's address on the resumption of atmospheric testing of nuclear weapons. Robert L.Ivie first introduces the intricacies and presuppositions of metaphorical analysis, then applies it to the Murrow-McCarthy prominent Cold War critics.
Philip Wander rounds out this tripartite approach by first describing the parameters of an ideological approach to Cold War discourse and then providing two applications of the ideological perspective. In the concluding chapter, Ivie demonstrates how all three approaches might contribute to a broadened understanding of how Cold War discourse functions for both its practitioners and its consumers. A special feature of the book is an introductory essay on epistemological issues in Cold War rhetoric by Robert L.Scott, a specialist in exemplar of how to think rhetorically about the Cold War and how to understand it as a battle of persuasive symbologies.