In Head in the Clouds: The Ridicule of Socrates in Classical Athens, Martijn Icks started a new year by looking to the past and examining how a satirical play may have impugned Socrates' reputation decades before his execution. Later in the month, Jennifer Keohane reflected on her own personal struggle with ad hominem attacks following …
Tag: Rehtoric
How is Character Communicated?
By Jennifer Keohane In this post, I introduce a rhetorical approach to character. This understanding may not square with other academic disciplines that may be interested in other aspects, but I hope this explanation will help explain my approach to studying character assassination. I start from the assumption that character assassination occurs in communication. That …
Why Character Assassination Is A Misleading Term (But we continue to use it anyway)
By Martijn Icks Character assassination is an eye-catching word. It triggers associations with murder and violence, with slashed throats and dripping poison. It’s a word that lends itself well to being spoken with righteous indignation: “My character has been assassinated!” Immediately, we’re prompted to sympathize with the victim and despise the dastardly perpetrator who committed …
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