Rhetorical Artifact

Role of the Artifact in Rhetorical Criticism

A rhetorical artifact is the object of study for the rhetorical critic, whose goal is to explain how rhetoric works in a given instance. The artifact is an example of rhetoric at work. It contains symbols which display evidence of human rhetorical action, either in the production of the artifact or in its interpretation by various audiences. So, the task of the rhetorical critic is to illuminate how the symbols in a rhetorical artifact are either intended to function, or in fact do function, persuasively. Furthermore, the rhetorical critic must also evaluate the rhetorical artifact in terms of its social and theoretical implications. The critic’s [Page 1495]selection of the artifact must be justified by how it helps to understand some aspect of social life, as well as some aspect of how symbols function rhetorically. For example, the critic may explain how an artifact reinforces or challenges ideologies and social hierarchies for various audiences. Thus, the study of rhetorical artifacts furthers knowledge about symbolic social worlds, and it simultaneously contributes to the field of rhetorical theory.

In analyzing a rhetorical artifact, the rhetorical critic might apply an existing theory or a set of theoretical concepts to illuminate how the symbols in the artifact influence either a general audience or specific audiences. By doing so, the critic validates the theoretical concepts that were applied in analyzing the artifact. Alternatively, the rhetorical critic might, in the process of analyzing the rhetorical artifact, construct a fresh theory that explains the work performed by the symbols in the artifact. Unlike the social scientific approach to understanding communication, which draws conclusions and tests theories by aggregating multiple instances of data, the rhetorical critic can make a useful contribution to the understanding of rhetoric, and its role in social lives, through the analysis of a single artifact. As long as the critic provides well-defended claims about how the symbols in an artifact function persuasively, he or she advances the understanding of how rhetoric functions to maintain or disrupt social worlds.

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