“The Effort of Reason,and the Adventure of Beauty”: The Aesthetic Rhetoric of Randolph Bourne

We are still coming to terms with the legacy of Randolph Bourne. Although he died at the age of 32 just as the United States was cheerfully entering the First World War under the banner of “democracy,” the words he penned in an unfinished essay still resonate in the American social conscience: “War is the Health of the State.” This maxim, once thought the exclusive property of leftist radicals, now can be heard echoing from every political corner of the blogosphere as progressives and libertarians alike find cause to question the motives of governmental power. Yet despite his reappearance as a symbol, Bourne in many ways remains as forgotten as ever—perhaps even more so as his once provocative claim has been transformed into a talking point. This essay endeavors to recapture the voice of Bourne in all its complexity, seeking to place him at the forefront of the contemporary American intellectual tradition as one of its most piercing critics, most visionary poets, and most eloquent rhetors. Specifically, we show how Bourne's critique of the “State” foresaw the rise of the technological society organized by ideological propaganda, how his vision of the Beloved Community anticipated our modern ideals of global transnationalism, and how his literary essays practiced a form of aesthetic rhetoric which employed dramatistic methods to bring about a new state of expanded social consciousness.     

Rhetoric and Power: The Idealism and ‘Philosophy of Life’ of the Olympic Movement

In this article we analyze from a multidisciplinary perspective some of the philosophical foundations which underpin the theories on Olympism fostered by the current Olympic institutions. We start from the theory that Olympist idealism1 is based on social representations of the modern sport, implicit to which is the ideological justification for the political and social practices of the Olympic Movement (OM) regarding the various historical episodes in which it has been caught up. This idealism has shaped an inherited view of the sport which has moved beyond the ambit of the OM and into the realm of sports science, which has adopted and continues to adopt some of the postulates of the Olympist discourse when undertaking a critical review of the Olympic history and philosophy.     

Reclaiming the Rhetoric of Reies López Tijerina: Border Identity and Agency in “The Land Grant Question”

Chicano activist Reies Tijerina's speech known as “The Land Grant Question” provides a point of analysis in this article for assessing contradictory understandings of Tijerina and his movement, La Alianza Federal de Mercedes. The author explores how in both its rhetorical content and form, Tijerina's speech navigated and negotiated identity and agency for the Alianza and Mexican Americans. The speech represents border rhetoric, a type of vernacular discourse that migrates across borders, sustains contradictions, and crafts a middle space. Reclaiming Tijerina's rhetoric extends Chicano movement studies, illuminates notions of rhetorical agency, and highlights a rhetorically-inflected notion of the border.     

The New Story of the Hare and the Tortoise

Since the hare failed in the race with the tortoise, he has been waiting for another race with the tortoise again. One day, he meets the tortoise. He says, "Do you dare to have a race with me again? Last time I failed because I was too proud. Let's have a race again, OK?" The tortoise agrees and Mr. Bear is the referee (裁判). When Mr. Bear shoots the gun, they begin to run. While running, the hare thinks, "I mustn't stop. I mustn't be proud." Suddenly (突然), there is a river in…     

The New Story of the Hare and the Tortoise

Since the hare failed in the race with the tortoise, he has been waiting for another race with the tortoise again.     

Reshaping the “Pillow Angel”: Plastic Bodies and the Rhetoric of Normal Surgical Solutions

This essay uses the controversial “Ashley Treatment” to argue that normative body rhetorics have become untethered from and more influential than traditional medical perspectives in determinations about surgical intervention. While disagreeing greatly over the ethics of the “Treatment,” both its supporters and critics construct rhetorics of a “healthy” body against which pre- and post-Treatment bodies can be evaluated. These rhetorics demonstrate how “health” and “illness” can be defined more through social ideology than medical certainty, resulting in fluid notions of what it means to have a “normal” body and how surgical techniques should be employed to achieve normality.     

Old Educational Ideas,New American Schools: Progressivism and the Rhetoric of Educational Revolution∗

Drawing on books and essays of prominent progressive educators, this essay seeks to identify key elements that should be included in a working definition of progressive education. Such a definition is crucial for determining the degree of influence progressive ideas have had on American schools. The essay looks at how these ideas appear to have influenced the designs of a number of highly visible "whole-school reform" programs in the United States, programs that are perhaps the leading educational reform effort in the United States today. The essay then assesses how effective these programs have been in boosting student achievement. The essay concludes by speculating that the oft-used rhetoric of educational revolution, which was employed by early progressive educators and by later whole-school reformers, is a serious obstacle to genuine improvement in educational policy and practice.     

The “New Environmental Paradigm” in a Mexican Community

Abstract

A sample of 422 Mexicans from a medium-sized city responded to the New Environmental Paradigm-Human Exception Paradigm (NEP-HEP) scale, which assesses peoples' beliefs about human-environment relations. The NEP scale contains questions referring to the need for a “natural balance” and “limits to human impact on nature.” In contrast, implicit in the HEP scale is a view of humankind as different from and with control over nature. The responses of the interviewees revealed higher levels of adherence to the NEP than to the HEP. However, confirmatory factor analysis showed the covariances between pro-NEP and pro-HEP factors to be high and significant, indicating that the participants did not see the two paradigms as mutually exclusive, as do members of some industrialized societies. The results point to a more holistic view of human relations with the environment, in contrast to the dualistic vision of some western countries.     

The Discussion of the Character of Santiago in“The Old Man and The Sea”

"The Old Man and The Sea"is Hemingway latter years’masterpiece,with which he was awarded the Nobel prize in1954.As the protagonist of the novel,Santiago plays a vital role to the novel’s motif.Hemingway expresses his attitudes toward the life through the image of Santiago.The paper intends to explore the character of Santiago from different facets and angles.In the end,we reach a conclusion that Santiago is a strong-willed man with a young,indestructible soul,he is kind,sensitive as well as hardworking.In a ward,he is a perfect Hemingway hero.     

The Use of Defamiliarization in “The Old Man and the Sea”

Defamiliarization is an important theory of the Russian formalism.Hemingway might not have been influenced by formalism,but defamiliarization assumes an integral part of his creation.His use of defamiliarization makes The Old Man and the Sea an epoch-making masterpiece.The paper is an attempt to explore the artistic charm of the novel by analyzing Hemingway's use of this artistic technique.     

ANNOUNCEMENT: New “Research and Practice” Section in the Journal

Research in Higher Education -     

Re-telling the “Story So Far”: Reconsidering Sport and Spirituality in Light of the New Age

ABSTRACT

Sport and spirituality is a burgeoning academic area of study (Jirasek, 2015). To date, the field has been dominated by Christian scholarship (Watson & Parker, 2011). Incidentally, the history of the field is often narrated from a Christocentric viewpoint. Such narratives downplay, denigrate, or ignore the impact of other religious ideas. This article highlights New Age thinking as a primary driver of sport and spirituality, and problematizes exclusively Christianized historiographies of the field. Exposing connections to New Age figures and ideas, this article demonstrates the necessity of a more nuanced narrative of the field of sport and spirituality. It concludes by suggesting that scholars of sport should critically attend to the historiographical, theoretical, and methodological developments of a field, as these are inherently political practices.     

“Handicap” and Education in the United States of the 1930s: Discursive Formations in the New York Times*

This article traces the discursive development of the concept of “handicap” in the United States, through an examination of one written medium, namely the New York Times The emergence, development and decline of the concept of handicap are situated over a span of about 75 years, beginning in 1905. The concept reflects a modern era that replaces a previous era, represented by the concept of “cripple”. The article focuses both on the impact of education and the strong impact of events in the 1930s in the formative stages of the concept. Overcoming barriers, mainly through vocational skills, is an overarching educational goal. The strong impact of public instead of charitable assistance is an important contribution in the formative stages of the 1930s.     

“A Widespread Loss of Confidence:” TARP,Presidential Rhetoric,and the Crisis of Neoliberalism

This article analyzes the circulation of the term “confidence” as a prominent signifier for neoliberal logics, taking George W. Bush’s response to the economic crisis in Fall 2008 as a case study. It traces the public circulation of confidence in previous presidential administrations and notes that much like previous administrations, Bush’s response to the crisis was rooted in confidence. Bush identified a loss of confidence as the underlying cause of the economic crisis, and his focus on the need to restore lost confidence allowed him to violate his traditionally conservative principles in order to save the free market. Additionally, Bush’s reliance on the term in the context of the economic crisis articulated the nation-state to the national economy through neoliberalism as a prevailing economic logic.     

The Pimp and the Happy Whore: “Doing Gender” in Film Talk in a School Setting

The present paper concerns the use of film for eliciting discussions of fundamental values in an upper secondary school setting. In this case, Lilya 4‐ever, a feature film about sex trafficking, is used. The present paper contributes some empirical knowledge about how young people are “doing gender” in a natural setting—an educational context—that celebrates equality values. The examples from a group discussion between pupils reveal a balance between performing the school task, discussing the questions on the sheet the teacher provided, and working on their private identities, which here includes social interplay that among teenagers could involve rejecting an academic identity. The analysis concerns how pupils use discourses drawn from a film in that balancing act. The paper explores how discourses on sex are used to gain power in conversation, to challenge male sexuality, and to reject victimization.