IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/h/elg/eechap/20588_3.html
   My bibliography  Save this book chapter

Rhetorical history: giving meaning to the past in past and present

In: Handbook of Historical Methods for Management

Author

Listed:
  • Christina Lubinski

Abstract

Rhetorical history explores the process by which stakeholders interpret the past to explain or give meaning to their present, thereby pursuing individual or collective goals. Rhetorical history has been discussed as both a theory and a method. This chapter explores the methodological choices made in this field so far and the open questions scholars face. It specifically highlights not only the mechanisms but also the contexts of rhetorical history. Mechanisms show how the past is made meaningful, through analogy, strategic ambiguity, outpasting, or forgetting. Contexts focus on the impact and development of rhetorical histories over time, by engaging with the role of audiences, the relevance of prior narratives to contest or confirm, and the importance of social practices. Both pose methodological questions, specifically how uses of the past can be studied as stories told in the context of other stories and by seeing them both "in time" and "over time."

Suggested Citation

  • Christina Lubinski, 2023. "Rhetorical history: giving meaning to the past in past and present," Chapters, in: Stephanie Decker & William M. Foster & Elena Giovannoni (ed.), Handbook of Historical Methods for Management, chapter 3, pages 35-45, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    • Handle: RePEc:elg:eechap:20588_3
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.elgaronline.com/doi/10.4337/9781800883741.00010
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:elg:eechap:20588_3. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Darrel McCalla (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.e-elgar.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.