I. A. Richards' new rhetoric: Metaphor and 'Ethos'.

Abstract

Initially acknowledged as leading to a revitalized rhetoric, I. A. Richards' contributions now are neglected. Three themes weave through this discussion of Richards' works and their value. First, he should be more thoroughly recognized as a pivotal force in twentieth-century rhetoric who brought rhetoric into modernity and thus set the stage for much of current rhetorical inquiry. Second, his speculations on the meaning of meanings provide the basis for a study of ethos that will pay close attention to the evaluations readers and writers, speakers and listeners, bring to rhetorical situations. Third, his inquiries into metaphor are germinal, initiating the growing perception that metaphor is the constituent of language use and meaning. Because he conjoins a new understanding of metaphor and of ethos, Richards provides the basis of a truly "new" rhetoric, one crucial to what he calls "the world we make for ourselves to live in." Current rhetorical theory, history of metaphor studies, and contemporary accounts of metaphor are discussed in relation to Richards' works.