The Theory, History, and Practice of Parrhesia: The Rhetoric of Resistance [Hardcover]

This book examines the theory, history, and practice of parrhesiathe act of speaking truth to power, when doing so is risky for the rhetorand argues for a networked rhetorical approach to parrhesia that has not been considered previously by any other theorist. The goal of this book is to offer a reader-friendly explanation of this networked rhetorical approach to parrhesia, provide a genealogical account of the origins of parrhesia in the Classical age, and to show how parrhesia manifests today. This book is meant to give readers a functional manual for understanding, recognizing, analyzing, articulating, and using parrhesia.

Chapter 1: What to Expect and Why.- PART I: A RHETORICAL THEORY OF PARRHESIA.- Chapter 2: Whats in a Word? Parrhesia, Rhetoric, and Discursive Fields of Meaning.- Chapter 3: A Word with a Mission: How Parrhesia Moves and Reproduces.- Chapter 4: A Networked Rhetorical Theory of Parrhesia: Putting It All Together.- PART II: THE HISTORY OF PARRHESIA.- Chapter 5: Historicizing Parrhesia: Athenian Democracy and Philosophy.- Chapter 6: Beyond Athens: Parrhesia and the Roman Republic.- Chapter 7: Parrhesia and Autocracy: Roman Empire and Early Christian Eras.- PART III: THE PRACTICE OF PARRHESIA.- Chapter 8: Problems and Interrogation: Parrhesia, Truth, and Ideology.- Chapter 9: Case Studies in Parrhesia.- Chapter 10: The Courage to Speak and to Listen.

Renea Frey is Associate Professor of Rhetoric and  Writing Program Director at Xavier University (Ohio, USA).

Parrhesia is a vital rhetorical resource for our times, enabling discordant interruptions when oppressive power occults shared community values. Renea Frey accomplishes the impossible here in one volume: she untangles a complex theory of parrhesia, she recovers its ancient history, and she illustrates its modern practice to foster progressive social change. Frey is concernel“~