In Defense of Polemics

Ruth Amossy (Tel-Aviv University) is a leading scholar in the field of Argumentation and Discourse Analysis, and the Chief editor of the French journal Argumentation et Analyse du discours. She published extensively on argumentation in its relation to Discourse Analysis, on various theoretical issues in the field of rhetorical argumentation, DA and political discourse, on stereotypes and on ethos. She is the coordinator of ADARR.

• Part 1: Theoretical Questions.- Chapter 1. Managing Disagreement in Democracy: For a Rhetoric of Dissent.- Chapter 2. What is Polemical Discourse?.- Part 2: The Nature of Polemical Discourse: Debating on the Place of Women In the Public Space.- Chapter 3. Discourse and Polemical Exchange: On the Burqa in France.- Chapter 4. Public Controversy in the Media: The “Exclusion” of Women from the Public Space.- Part 3: Reason, Passion and Violence.- Chapter 5. Rationality and/or Passion: Discussing Stock-Options in Times of Crisis.- Chapter 6. Verbal Violence: Its Functions and Limits. Flames in Polemical Exchanges.- Conclusion: Coexistence in Dissent. The Functions of Polemics and their Institutional Conditions of Possibility.

“The merit of this new book by Ruth Amossy is to provide a faithful description of discursive practices that have been neglected for too long and thus to allow a better understanding of the meaning and function of verbal behaviours that deviate from rational and reasonable negotiation between interlocutors … . This book, which is a major contribution to the theory of argumentation, is also a powerful stimulus for students, offering them an extremely rich range of examples and analyses.” (Jean-Claude Guerrini, Argumentation, Vol. 36 (3), 2022)