Rhetoric and Marxism

In this study of the relationship between Marxism and the rhetorical tradition, Aune argues that the classical texts of Marx and Engels wavered incoherently between positivist and romantic views of language and communication - views that were themselves made possible by the decline of the rhetorical tradition as a cultural force. He also suggests that, although western Marxism attempted to resolve this incoherence, it lacked a satisfactory theory of its own. He concludes that the liberating impulse of Marxist tradition would ultimately be better served if closer attention were paid to the rhetorical history of the labour movement and to the role of public discourse in arousing or quelling the revolutionary consciousness.