Edmund Burke and the Discourse of Virtue (Studies in Rhetoric and Communication) - Tapa dura

"A singularly impressive scholarly work. As the author points out so deftly in his introduction, Burke's rhetoric has been too long ignored or simply used to serve other purposes, and it has never been subjected to the close textual analysis it receives in this work. The result of Browne's study is to present Burke and his work in a light that was clearly essential to Burke himself, one that illuminates the close connection between rhetoric construction and action that is so necessary to a fuller understanding of the man, his career, and his discourse. "This book is an extremely important addition to Burke scholarship. . . .Browne's demonstration of the textual/contextual connections is firmly rooted in historical, critical, and theoretical scholarship and evidences a firm and broad command of relevant literature. The essays stand as an exemplar of a rich interpretive approach to rhetorical texts, an approach that can be studied with profit by young and mature critics alike. "A major accomplishment in the study of Burke." Choice

Edmund Burke (1729-1797) continues to command a major presence in the history and criticism of Western thought. A great deal of attention, accordingly, is paid to the philosophical and literary qualities of his writings. Such emphases, however, overlook what Browne argues to be Burke's most important legacy: his choice to engage principles through the media of public life. This achievement is illustrated by Burke's concern for virtue as a principle of civic action and responsibility. Browne seeks to restore Burke's reputation as an advocate and as an exemplar of public virtue by submitting key texts to detailed rhetorical analysis. By examining a variety of public genres, including party tracts, speeches and public letters, Browne aims to show that Burke consistently advances a discourse of virtue. This discourse, at once public and principled, is presented as a celebration of public life and the rhetoric by which that life is given expression. Browne presents a new, non-partisan way of interpreting Burke by providing close readings of his public discourse and political writings from a rhetorical perspective. This interpretation sets out to enrich our understanding of Burke in a variety of ways: first, by resisting the temptation to reduce his thought to merely theoretical propositions; and second, by expanding the analysis of his prose beyond mere statistics. Such an approach suggests, moreover, that rhetorical criticism is distinctly suited to the interpretation of political discourse.