Anneli Bowie

Abstract This paper offers a new perspective on the rhetoric of ‘sustainability’ especially within dialogue around ‘design for sustainability’ (DfS) by applying and advancing the work of twentieth-century rhetorical theorist and cultural critic, Kenneth Burke. Burke’s rhetorical theory is presented here for its potential to not only highlight but also transcend the common disjunction between theory and praxis that emerges in the ‘symbol-foolishness’ underpinning various forms of unsustainability. This paper presents Burke’s theory of symbolicity and discusses four key symbolic ‘disorders’ that he identified over the course of his career, namely, hierarchic psychosis, technological psychosis, trained incapacity, and the bureaucratization of the imaginative. In conclusion, this paper suggests how enhanced rhetorical literacy, or greater ‘symbol-wisdom’, could serve an important role in reviving the notion of ‘sustainability’ itself.

This article interrogates the visual language surrounding the South African Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR) agenda, by rhetorically analysing stock images used in a prominent 4IR publication. This study serves to contribute to the ongoing critical discussion surrounding the general legitimacy and local propriety of the global 4IR narrative, which has been enthusiastically adopted by the South African government to guide techno-development policy. The article draws on critiques of 4IR discursivities but offers a novel contribution by examining the rhetorical power of images in reinforcing this influential but potentially problematic high-level policy narrative. The stock images analysed feature prominently in “Summary Report and Recommendations” by the Presidential Commission on the 4IR. Both the general rhetorical appeal of commercial stock images and the particular visual appeal of a “techno-imaginary” genre of images are analysed. In addition to outlining the persuasive effects of these images, according to Aristotle’s means of persuasion (logos, pathos, and ethos), the article also critically reflects on their potential shortcomings. The article is concluded by arguing that these generic stock images offer an inadequate visual vocabulary for imagining a locally appropriate and desirable South African future.

This article interrogates the visual language surrounding the South African Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR) agenda, by rhetorically analysing stock images used in a prominent 4IR publication. This study serves to contribute to the ongoing critical discussion surrounding the general legitimacy and local propriety of the global 4IR narrative, which has been enthusiastically adopted by the South African government to guide techno-development policy. The article draws on critiques of 4IR discursivities but offers a novel contribution by examining the rhetorical power of images in reinforcing this influential but potentially problematic high-level policy narrative. The stock images analysed feature prominently in “Summary Report and Recommendations” by the Presidential Commission on the 4IR. Both the general rhetorical appeal of commercial stock images and the particular visual appeal of a “techno-imaginary” genre of images are analysed. In addition to outlining the persuasive effects of these images, according to Aristotle’s means of persuasion (logos, pathos, and ethos), the article also critically reflects on their potential shortcomings. The article is concluded by arguing that these generic stock images offer an inadequate visual vocabulary for imagining a locally appropriate and desirable South African future.

My aim for this broadly-conceived special section in Image & Text on visual rhetoric and rhetorics of the visual is to highlight the multiple ways in which rhetorical approaches can offer valuable perspectives on a broad range of visual cultural products and practices. More specifically, one of my main objectives was to solicit studies that consider the rhetorical constitution of visual cultural phenomena via a mixture of visual and verbal argumentation. This means paying attention to how visual artifacts operate as persuasive “arguments”, while recognising the essential role played by verbal argumentation when it comes to the creation, justification, promotion and evaluation of the visual. I am delighted that the articles presented here reflect on these interconnected aspects of visual rhetorical inquiry (the rhetoricity of visual language and the rhetoricity of language about the visual).

In this PhD research project I aim to investigate the rhetorical framing of communication design trends, by employing the theory of American rhetorician, Kenneth Burke. Although Burke is relatively unknown in design research circles, this study argues that he may provide valuable new perspectives on the rhetorical nature of design products, processes and discourses. Visual rhetoric is considered an important yet underdeveloped area of design inquiry, and an application of Burke’s rhetorical theories may prove valuable in addressing this need. Furthermore, I intend to show how Burke’s dialectical approach, as seen in his interrogations of historical transitions, may prove particularly useful for investigating fluctuating design movements and trends. In other words, Burke’s holistic rhetorical-dialectical framework can serve as a means to gain insight about design motives, their underlying philosophical values and how these shift over time. I describe the methodological approach of th...

Designers routinely justify or substantiate their design decisions and need to persuade various stakeholders that their verbalized rationales are legitimate and appropriate. This paper thus starts from the assumption that verbal justification, as a major part of any design process, may be interrogated from a rhetorical perspective. Furthermore, insofar as designers are socialized to provide “proper” justifications for their design actions, their selectively expressed rationalizations can reveal ideological orientations within the larger design community. To interrogate the discursive framing of design actions, this paper introduces Kenneth Burke’s theory on a “grammar of motives.” This paper shows how a “grammar of design motives” can be utilized to analyze and critique design justifications and enhance designers’ awareness of how they articulate themselves rhetorically. Furthermore, as an interpretive guide, Burke’s framework can reveal patterns in design discourse, providing clues about dominant discursive conventions and, by extension, more deeply held conceptions of good practice.

This paper explores the dialectical-rhetorical constitution of stylistic design trends by analyzing a prominent shift in interface design esthetics, from “skeuomorphism” to “Flat Design”. The case study serves to illustrate the continuous negotiation between opposite design positions or “design dialectics” in the debate surrounding the so-called “Flat Design revolution” as well as related historical design arguments. This paper further considers the concerns related to accelerated trend dynamics, particularly in terms of sustainability. Esthetic obsolescence, whereby products are prematurely discarded, is arguably exacerbated by highly persuasive dialectical design rhetorics. In response to this problem, this paper considers the potential of Kenneth Burke’s dialectical-rhetorical approach to criticism, along with his notion of “comic framing”, as a means toward “discounting” polemical design rhetorics.

The current emphasis on social responsibility and community collaboration within higher education has led to an increased drive to include service learning in the curriculum. With its emphasis on mutually beneficial collaborations, service learning can be meaningful for both students and the community, but is challenging to manage successfully. From a design education perspective, it is interesting to note that contemporary design practice emphasises a similar approach known as a human-centered design, where users are considered and included throughout the design process. In considering both service learning and human-centered design as foundations for design pedagogy, various philosophical and methodological similarities are evident. The paper explores the relationship between a service learning community engagement approach and a human-centered design approach in contemporary communication design education.

This thesis illustrates the potential of Kenneth Burke’s theory for interrogating visual design trend dynamics and rhetorics. The investigation originated in response to the perceived unsustainability of accelerated design trend dynamics, as amplified by rhetorically-driven aesthetic obsolescence. The hermeneutic framework developed in this study, referred to as a Burkean meta-rhetorical approach, is thus used towards re-framing attitudes towards and engagements with design trends. The framework is illustrated throughout the study by referring to visual design examples as well as verbal discourse surrounding prominent historical and contemporary design movements or trends. Various theoretical facets form part of the meta-rhetorical framework, namely Burke’s dialectics, dramatism, rhetoric, criticism and ethics. A Burkean dialectical perspective on design trends offers foundational insights on how symbolic language creates ‘design dialectics’, which translate into dynamic design change over time. Burke’s ‘dramatism’ sheds light on the human-relational ‘design drama’ that impacts design trend engagements. Burke’s rhetoric offers insights on rhetorical strategies or persuasive tactics found in ‘the rhetorical design situation’, where designers are both producers and consumers of design trend rhetorics. Burke’s critical theory is useful for interrogating perceived ‘design (dis)orders’ or design attitudes and behaviours that become imbalanced, potentially contributing to and exacerbating problematic trend dynamics. Lastly, Burke’s symbolic re-framing strategies are considered towards developing more ethical, honest and responsible (less polemical or melodramatic) trend rhetorics. Burke’s meta-rhetorical theory is thus presented as a valuable theoretical approach in design, for nurturing greater rhetorical awareness and promoting more responsible rhetorical design citizenship.

This study explores the conceptual relationship between design aesthetics and Aristotelian rhetoric in the context of information visualisation. Aesthetics and rhetorical theory are traditionally studied as separate discourses, but conceptual links between these fields are identified, specifically in terms of communicative goals and strategies. This study therefore compares selected theories on design aesthetics and Aristotelian rhetoric in information visualisation in order to ascertain whether a combined framework may be feasible.