To Örebro University

This paper demonstrates how nonverbal communication may perform argumentative functions in television debates by acclaiming and defending the debater’s own ethos and in attacking the opponent’s ethos. We argue that studies of non-verbal communication in debates should not only study what is done nonverbally, but also how it is done. This informs our analyses of excerpts of television debates between Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama in the 2008 primary election campaign. Our analyses establish two main types of nonverbal rhetoric, enacted actio and restrained actio, and show how these may be used argumentatively. We introduce the concept of the personal qualifier to signify how debaters nonverbally can express degrees of certainty and emotional involvement, similar to the function of qualifier in Stephen Toulmin’s argument model.

In the development of a new program at the School of Humanities at Örebro University, the subjects involved (English language, Rhetoric and Swedish), proposed the implementation of a pedagogical model that hitherto has been underused in the humanities, namely case-based learning. Although well established in other fields, case pedagogy has not been tested in the humanities to any large extent. In this report, we first describe the three subjects’ take on case pedagogy along with our experiences from its implementation in the program. Next, we discuss the criteria we deem essential for success in this pedagogical model; these four criteria that comprise the Harvard model are authenticity, open-endedness, applicability of theory, and implementation that supports learning objectives. 

In summary, we emphasize that these criteria should not be considered as a fixed template; instead, we propose that they be regarded as a source of inspiration and let applicable fields of practice and the discipline itself dictate which criteria are relevant.

This article explores timing, kairos, in human interaction by analyzing nonverbal communication. The skill of timing, being able to do “the right thing at the right time,” is important for rhetorical agency. What are the silent processes in human interaction, and how do they influence the possibility for a kairotic moment to occur? Empirical material consisting of theater rehearsals has been analyzed. The findings show that the actio qualities: tempo and energy, as well as phronesis, are important factors for the appearance of a kairotic moment.

Niniejszy artykuł bada zagadnienia dotyczące czasu, tj. kairos, w interakcjach międzyludzkich poprzez analizę komunikacji niewerbalnej. Umiejętność wyczucia czasu, zdolność do zrobienia „właściwej rzeczy we właściwym czasie”, jest ważna dla retorycznej sprawczości. Jakie procesy niewerbalne występują w interakcji międzyludzkiej i jak wpływają one na możliwość zaistnienia momentu kairotycznego? Analizie poddano materiał empiryczny, na który składają się próby teatralne. Wyniki badań wskazują, że takie cechy actio, jak tempo i energia, a także phronesis są ważnymi czynnikami sprzyjającymi pojawieniu sięmomentu kairotycznego.

In this article, the invention of new forms of desire that target the gendered body in consumer culture is examined through the lens of the visual rhetoric of shop-window mannequins. The article is a result of cross-disciplinary research combining rhetorical and sociological theories and methods. Inspired by nonverbal methods and theories of embodiment, successive modernities and gender, the changing ethos and personae of mannequins from the 1930s until today are decoded. The shop window could be seen as a microcosm of consumer culture and is, therefore, interesting to study over time to unveil its shifting ideals. The empirical data consist of over 1000 pictures of window displays. Questions that are asked in analysing the empirical material are the following: (1) What ethos and personae do the shop-window mannequins nonverbally express? (2) How do the ethos and personae they nonverbally express change during the transformation of modernity? and (3) Are there any differences between the ethos and personae nonverbally expressed by the male and female mannequins, as well as within each gender? In the two first sections, a theoretical understanding of the concepts of ethos and persona as forms of embodiment that emerge through the interaction between the shop-window mannequins and the consumer is developed. In the third section, the empirical technique that has been used to capture the ethos and personae expressed by the shop-window mannequins is treated. In the fourth section, the notion of successive modernities is introduced, as the study aims to observe the transformation of the ethos and personae of male and female shop-window mannequins during the course of modernity. Also a gender perspective is added as the observation shows differences between and within each gender category. In the fifth section, the result of the analysis of the empirical materials is presented.

Denna artikel presenterar en studie av attityder som visas i en medlingssituation i en svensk reality-teveserie om grannkonflikter. Syftet är att utveckla en teoretisk och metodologisk ram för retorisk analys av ickeverbala yttranden. I artikeln skisseras en teori baserad på retorikens actio och Kenneth Burkes syn på förkroppsligad attityd. Actio utforskas genom en multimodal analys, det vill säga genom hur olika mänskliga modaliteter– såsom gester, ansiktsuttryck, huvudrörelser, kroppshållning, röstnyanser etc. – samverkar och skapar mening åt den ickeverbala kommunikationen. Med hjälp av skillnader i actiokvaliteter identifierades två attityder vilka tydligt påverkade medlingen: nedlåtenhet och trots. Tillsammans bildar de en struktur som befäster konflikten. I artikeln dras slutsatsen att de teoretiska begreppen attityd och actio-kvaliteter tillsammans utgör en meningsfull modell för att analysera kroppsspråket i kommunikativa situationer och att tidiga iakttagelser av ickeverbala yttranden kan bidra till lyckad medling.

In the article a new concept, “Actio Capital” is introduced. Actio refers to how a speech is delivered in a public setting. The concept is intended to provide an overall description and understanding of a speaker’s resources with regard to actio. Actio Capital is a theoretical model that describes the development of a speaker’s actio from actio resource, to asset, and finally to Actio Capital. The model is inspired by Pierre Bourdieu’s concepts of habitus and symbolic capital along with the analysis of both classical and modern handbooks and recent research about actio, as well as an empirical study of university lecturers.

Within Rhetoric there is a wide and complex variety of concepts used to explore and discuss our societies´ different discursive phenomenon. When analysing speakers nonverbal communication, the concept of Kairos have distinguished it selves as more important than others. The concept is trying to make clear and explain some of the processes that at times can seem inconceivable with our nonverbal communication. Kairos and Kronos were the two Greek terms used to refer to time. Kronos was used when referring to measured time; like hours, minutes and so on. Kairos had a more qualitative, interpreting, cultural-based meaning. The concept of kairos captures the process that can be so difficult to comprehend when everything crystallizes to exactly the right moment for someone to act or speak, or both. The primary focus in the article is on explaining how the concept of kairos can help us to understand the sense of timing in our nonverbal communication. One of the aspects that are important for kairos is the sense of rhythm that develops in a situation. A speaker with a good sense of rhythm can come across as very persuasive. In order for kairos to happen someone has to know or believe that he knows that “now” is the time to act. It is an understanding that doesn’t come by itself but demands an active and aware speaker. The speaker has to be aware of the ongoing creativity in the situation, the creativity that charge the sequence with the tension between what is possible and what is not, and does this every time. So, whether kairos appears “now” depends on a range of reflections over a number of ongoing processes in the context, one of them, I mean, relates to rhythm.

Based on a rhetorical, cognitive and contextual view of nonverbal communication (cf. Kjeldsen 2007, e.g. nonverbal resources of rhetoric, Gelang 2008) I will examine the ethos of politicians and the argumentative dimensions of the nonverbal communication of Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton in their contest for the 2008 American Democratic presidential nomination.

Actio was an essential part of rhetorical training from the classical period with Aristotle, Quintilian and Cicero setting the standard. Today nonverbal communication concerns a variety of modalities such as facial expressions, hand-gestures, movements, postures and the use of voice. In this articel, I will refer to these nonverbal modalities rhetorically performed in public speaking as actio.

Unlike rhetoricians from ancient time, I am not only interested in what a speaker does (for instance nodding her head) but especially how she is doing it (nodding eagerly or hesitantly). The way a gesture is performed is at least as important for its rhetorical impact and argumentative dimensions as the gesture chosen. I refer to the performance as actio-qualities meaning the aspects of actio that create the nuances, and make actio appear with variation (Gelang 2008). In judging the how of actio, I distinguish between energy, dynamism and tempo in nonverbal communication. Energy concerns flow, intensity and focus; dynamism concerns variations, and tempo concerns flow, speed and timing (Gelang 2008). A wide range of studies suggests that nonverbal communication affects the audience in their liking or disliking of different debaters/leaders (Sullivan & Masters 1988, Atkinson 1988, Bucy 2000, 2003, Bucy & Bradley 2004). Some research points at energy as an especially important factor in nonverbal communication (McCroskey 2001, Mehrabaian 1972, Babad et al. 2004). One study of 37 television debates concludes that speakers winning the debates were characterized by modulated voice, energetic articulation, intense gaze, energetic posture, eager gesticulations and firm, directive gestures (Jørgensen et al 1994, 1998).

I will relate what I have found concerning actio-qualities to two nonverbal rhetorical argumentative strategies: enacted actio and restrained actio.