The rhetoric of breaking the rules: achieving success against the norms

• Applicant: Professorin Dr. Verena Schulz
• Subject Area: Greek and Latin Philology
• Term: since 2024
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 547762956

Ancient rhetoric has left us one of the greatest set of rules of antiquity. Countless precepts regulate in detail how a speech should be invented, structured, composed, memorized, and delivered. We can read about them in the greatest detail in the Institutio oratoria, the influential work of the Roman rhetorician Quintilian. How closely were these rules followed in practice? Modern scholarship has debated the relationship between rhetorical theory and oratorical practice. Quintilian himself knows very well that it can be precisely the non-observance of the rule that leads to rhetorical success (Institutio 2.13.1-8). This is where our project comes in: it explores the breaking of rules in rhetorical theory and practice, and its ethical, aesthetic, and legal implications. We will analyze various types of rules in combination with different rhetorical texts. In addition to the technical rules of rhetoric itself, social expectations, ethical norms, traditional behavior patterns and personal recommendations also play an important role in rhetoric. The rhetorical texts in which they are mentioned, described, or implicitly negotiated include textbooks, court speeches, specialized legal literature, political speeches, panegyrics, and declamations. The question of the rhetoric of rule-breaking also finds its contemporary continuation in modern parliamentary speeches, philosophical treatises, and journalistic texts. We will address the following research questions: What makes rule-breaking in rhetoric successful? What distinguishes successful, creative rule-breaking from unsuccessful, not acceptable rule-breaking? What are the (aesthetic and linguistic) effects of rule-breaking? What moral implications accompany rule-breaking? What does breaking the rules say about the rule-breaker, about the orator (or author) and the actual or constructed audience? To what extent does the experience of rule-breaking change the further development of rhetorical theory? Our network aims to answer these open questions in an interdisciplinary approach by means of workshops, podcasts, and a final conference. The interdisciplinary network will include researchers from Classics, General Rhetoric, Journalism, Ancient History, Law, and Philosophy. This inclusive approach will help us to develop a clear and nuanced terminology, to gain a better understanding of socio-cultural contexts, and to lead productive dialogues between ancient and modern rhetorical rule-breaking.

• DFG Programme: Scientific Networks
• Co-Investigator: Professorin Dr. Nicola Hömke