The Theory, History, and Practice of Parrhesia The Rhetoric of Resistance

This book examines the theory, history, and practice of parrhesia—the act of speaking truth to power, when doing so is risky for the rhetor—and argues for a networked rhetorical approach to parrhesia that has not been considered previously by any other theorist. The goal of this book is to offer a reader-friendly explanation of this networked rhetorical approach to parrhesia, provide a genealogical account of the origins of parrhesia in the Classical age, and to show how parrhesia manifests today. This book is meant to give readers a functional manual for understanding, recognizing, analyzing, articulating, and using parrhesia.

Chapter 1: What to Expect and Why.- PART I: A RHETORICAL THEORY OF PARRHESIA.- Chapter 2: What’s in a Word? Parrhesia, Rhetoric, and Discursive Fields of Meaning.- Chapter 3: A Word with a Mission: How Parrhesia Moves and Reproduces.- Chapter 4: A Networked Rhetorical Theory of Parrhesia: Putting It All Together.- PART II: THE HISTORY OF PARRHESIA.- Chapter 5: Historicizing Parrhesia: Athenian Democracy and Philosophy.- Chapter 6: Beyond Athens: Parrhesia and the Roman Republic.- Chapter 7: Parrhesia and Autocracy: Roman Empire and Early Christian Eras.- PART III: THE PRACTICE OF PARRHESIA.- Chapter 8: Problems and Interrogation: Parrhesia, Truth, and Ideology.- Chapter 9: Case Studies in Parrhesia.- Chapter 10: The Courage to Speak and to Listen.

Renea Frey is Associate Professor of Rhetoric and  Writing Program Director at Xavier University (Ohio, USA).