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Timothy R. Steffensmeier, Book Reviews, Journal of Communication, Volume 57, Issue 2, June 2007, Pages 411–412, https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1460-2466.2007.00349_4.x
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Rhetorical and Communication Studies have long leaned on philosophy to mold their theoretical frameworks. This practice continued when philosophy addressed the interpretive act involved in all language use, in that a space emerged for thinkers, including Heidegger, Gadamer, and Levinas, to inform rhetorical and communication theory. This interpretive turn also introduced Paul Ricoeur, French continental philosopher, to rhetoric and communication scholars. However, Ricoeur’s work has generated minimal response beyond investigations on metaphor and projects that wrap hermeneutics and rhetoric “arm in arm” (Jost & Hyde, 1997, p. xii.).
Andreea Deciu Ritivoi in Paul Ricoeur: Tradition and Innovation in Rhetorical Theory takes up the arduous task of introducing Ricoeur as a centerpiece for rhetorical theory. Ritivoi’s book develops from a wide range of Ricoeur’s scholarship to produce a “rational reconstruction of Ricoeur’s contribution to rhetorical theory” (p. 4). Although Ricoeur does not address rhetorical theory explicitly, Ritivoi weaves his philosophy into classical rhetorical concepts. Rhetorical theory, she boldly argues, changes when looking through the lens of Ricoeur; specifically, it becomes a more salient force in dealing with fundamental contemporary problems (p. 47).
