<p> The persuasive power of music is often relegated to the dimension of <i> pathos</i>: that which moves us emotionally. Yet, the music commodity is now situated in and around the liminal spaces of digitality. To think about how music functions, how it argues across media, and how it moves us, we must examine its material and immaterial realities as they present themselves to us and as we so create them. This dissertation rethinks the relationship between rhetoric and music by examining the creation, performance, and distribution of music in its material and immaterial forms to demonstrate its persuasive power. While both Plato and Aristotle understood music as a means to move men toward virtue, Aristotle tells us in his <i>Laws</i>, through the Athenian Stranger, that the very best kinds of music can help guide us to truth. From this starting point, I assess the historical problem of understanding the rhetorical potential of music as merely that which directs or imitates the emotions: that which "Soothes the savage breast," as William Congreve writes. By furthering work by Vickers and Farnsworth, who suggest that the Baroque fascination with applying rhetorical figures to musical figures is an insufficient framework for assessing the rhetorical potential of music, I demonstrate the gravity of musical persuasion in its political weight, in its violence--the subjective violence of musical torture at Guantanamo and the objective, ideological violence of music--and in what Jacques Attali calls the prophetic nature of music. I argue that music has a <i>significant function</i>, and as a non-discursive form of argumentation, works on us beyond affect. Moreover, with the emergence of digital music distribution and domestic digital recording technologies, the digital music commodity in its material and immaterial forms allows for ruptures in the former methods of musical composition, production, and distribution and in the political potential of music which Jacques Attali describes as being able to foresee new political realities. I thus suggest a new theoretical framework for thinking about rhetoric and music by expanding on Lloyd Bitzer's rhetorical situation, by offering the idea of "openings" to the existing exigence, audience, and constraints. The prophetic and rhetorical power of music in the aleatoric moment can help provide openings from which new exigencies can be conceived. We must, therefore, reconsider the role of rhetorical-musical composition for the citizen, not merely as a tool for entertainment or emotional persuasion, but as an arena for engaging with the political.</p>

This thesis scrutinizes the IRB's designation as an "expert tribunal" over the content of a "well-founded fear of being persecuted". Firstly, it suggests that a decision-maker's appeal to the "good reasons" and "say-so" of an "expert" authority serves only the interests of legal justice. Secondly, it looks behind the "rule" of a well-founded fear and considers the role of language and rhetoric in the "expert" construction of the "genuine" refugee claimant. Finally, it argues that the possibility of an ethical and responsible form of justice for the gay refugee claimant lies behind the "rule" of an authentic homosexual identity, in the moment of recognition of the distinct face and vulnerability of the gay refugee claimant. / Cette thèse propose une critique théorique de la nomination de la Commission de l'immigration et du statut de réfugié du Canada comme "tribunal expert" concernant le contenu de la définition d'une « crainte fondée de persécution ». D'abord, elle suggère que la référence par un décideur au « bon raisonnement » et à la « parole » d'une autorité « experte » sert surtout les intérêts de la justice judiciaire. Deuxièmement, elle cherche au-delà de la « règle » d'une crainte fondée et analyse le rôle de la langue et de la rhétorique face à la construction du demandeur « authentique » au statut du réfugié. Enfin, elle suggère qu'une forme de justice éthique et responsable pour le demandeur homosexuel au statut du réfugié est possible et se trouve derrière la « règle » de l'identité homosexuelle authentique, au moment de l'identification de son visage particulier et de sa vulnérabilité.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2007. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 68-11, Section: A, page: 4697. Adviser: Peter Mortensen. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 199-213) Available on microfilm from Pro Quest Information and Learning.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2007. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 68-11, Section: A, page: 4694. Adviser: Peter Mortensen. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 130-135) Available on microfilm from Pro Quest Information and Learning.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2007. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 68-11, Section: A, page: 4696. Advisers: Debra Hawhee; Peter Mortensen. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 214-232) Available on microfilm from Pro Quest Information and Learning.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2008. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 69-11, Section: A, page: 4318. Adviser: Paul Prior. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 216-228) Available on microfilm from Pro Quest Information and Learning.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Indiana University, Dept. of English, 2006. / "Title from dissertation home page (viewed July 3, 2007)." Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 67-08, Section: A, page: 2969. Adviser: John L. Schilb.

Cette thèse pose un regard nouveau sur un discours méconnu qui pourtant, joue un rôle d'influence important dans notre vie quotidienne: celui des banques. À l'aide des théories de l'énonciation, on arrive à dégager de ce discours qui se dit objectif des marques explicites et surtout, implicites, de subjectivité. Par l'analyse des choix lexicaux et des figures présentes dans ces textes, il devient possible de circonscrire un ensemble de valeurs constitutives de l'image et du rôle social que s'attribuent ces puissantes sociétés. Par un ensemble d'exemples tirés des textes entourant le débat sur les projets de fusions bancaires au Canada en 1998, nous arrivons à poser l'hypothèse que le discours des banques se caractérise par sa visée: imposer l'image d'une industrie solide qui se veut au service et à l'écoute des besoins de sa clientèle tout en étant une industrie responsable dont l'ensemble des activités sert les intérêts de tous les citoyens.

Abstract not available.

News, as we know, saturates our lives: from the morning newspaper to televised late-night reports there is no denying the influence and impact media can have on our daily lives. In the context of a post September the 11th world, one of the dominant trends in press media is the use of fear-based rhetoric. This research paper is concerned with how the Canadian press media constructs fear, particularly the fear of disease, and how this fear is further disseminated through translation. As well, it explores some of the dominant discourses concerning translation in the press and in general. The main hypothesis is that translation acts as a space of contagion with the power to disseminate certain emotions that develop in response to current events. Observations include a case study of French and English-Canadian press articles on the avian flu and the discursive strategies used to convey fear of the disease, as well as a potential framework for translators of the press.