Contemporary prolepsis in digital rhetoric: the roles and functions of proleptic cues

• Authors: Alina Landowska , Andrea Rocci , Marcin Koszowy

Title variants

PL

Współczesna prolepsis w retoryce cyfrowej: role i funkcje wskazówek proleptycznych

Abstracts

PL

Autorzy analizują adaptację koncepcji prolepsis narracyjnej, stworzonej przez Gérarda Genette’a, w kontekście mediów społecznościowych, ukazując jej efektywność jako narzędzia retoryki antycypacyjnej w komunikacji cyfrowej. Badanie ilustruje, w jaki sposób cyfrowe wypowiedzi wykorzystują sygnały proleptyczne do przyciągnięcia uwagi i potencjalnego zaangażowania odbiorców, na podstawie analizy wybranych przykładów z Twittera i Facebooka. Koncepcja prolepsis, tradycyjnie związana z przewidywaniem narracyjnym w literaturze, okazuje się skutecznie funkcjonować w kontekście cyfrowym, gdzie pełni rolę mechanizmu przyciągania uwagi użytkownika. Ta adaptacja podkreśla dynamikę strategii retorycznych w ciągle ewoluującym krajobrazie nowych mediów, podkreślając ciągłość klasycznych zasad retoryki w nowych mediach. Przyszłe badania powinny uwzględniać studium korpusowe, które pozwoliłoby na dogłębne zbadanie różnorodnych sygnałów proleptycznych stosowanych przez influencerów w mediach społecznościowych. Dodatkowo, analiza perswazyjnej skuteczności prolepsis, wraz z jej potencjalnymi związkami z błędami logicznymi, mogłaby dostarczyć fascynujących wniosków. Wreszcie, badanie reakcji odbiorców na te sygnały mogłoby przyczynić się do bardziej kompleksowego zrozumienia ich wpływu.

EN

This article explores the adaptation of Gérard Genette's concept of narrative prolepsis in the realm of social media as the proleptic technique, demonstrating its effectiveness as a tool for anticipatory rhetoric in digital communication. By analysing selected instances from Twitter and Facebook, the study illustrates how digital utterances employ proleptic cues to capture audience attention and potentially engage audiences. The concept of prolepsis, traditionally associated with narrative foresight in literature, is shown to be effectively transposed into the digital context, where it functions as a mechanism to attract user attention. This adaptation highlights the dynamism of rhetorical strategies in the evolving landscape of digital communication, underscoring the continuity of classical rhetorical principles in new media environments. Future research should incorporate a corpus study, which would allow for an in-depth examination of the diverse array of proleptic cues employed by social media influencers. Furthermore, an exploration into the persuasive efficacy of prolepsis, along with its potential links to reasoning fallacies, could provide intriguing insights. Additionally, an analysis of audience reactions to these cues could contribute to a more holistic understanding of their impact.

Keywords

PL

przyciąganie uwagi; Gérard Genette; retoryka antycypacyjna; retoryka cyfrowa

EN

attracting attention; Gérard Genette; anticipatory rhetoric; digital rhetoric

• Publisher: Polskie Towarzystwo Retoryczne
• Journal: Res Rhetorica
• Year: 2024
• Volume: 11
• Issue: 1
• Pages: 138-154

Dates

published

2024

Contributors

author

Alina Landowska

• SWPS Uniwersytet Humanistycznospołeczny

author

Andrea Rocci

• Uniwersytet w Lugano, Wydział Komunikacji, Kultury i Społeczeństwa, Instytut Argumentacji, Lingwistyki i Semiotyki

author

Marcin Koszowy

• Politechnika Warszawska, Wydział Administracji i Nauk Społecznych, Laboratorium The New Ethos

References

• Anderson, Ben. 2010. “Preemption, Precaution, Preparedness: Anticipatory Action and Future Geographies’” Progress in Human Geography 34 (6): 777–98. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/0309132510362600.
• Bal, Mieke. 2009. Narratology. Toronto: University of Toronto Press.
• Bamberg, Michael. 2011. ‘Who Am I? Narration and Its Contribution to Self and Identity’. Theory& Psychology 21 (1): 3–24. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/095935430935585.
• Bauman, Zygmunt. 2000. Liquid Modernity. Cambridge: Polity Press.
• Beck, Ulrich. 1996. “World Risk Society as Cosmopolitan Society?” Theory, Culture and Society13 (4): 1-32. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/0263276496013004001.
• Bendrat, Anna. 2019. “Rhetoric in Digital Communication: Merging Tradition with Modernity”. Res Rhetorica 6 (3): 111-124. DOI: https://doi.org/10.29107/rr2019.3.8.
• Bridgeman, Teresa. 2005. ‘Thinking Ahead: A Cognitive Approach to Prolepsis’. Narrative 13 (2): 125–59.
• Brooks, Peter. 1984. Reading for the Plot. Design and Intention in Narrative. New York: A.A. Knopf.
• Business DIT. 2022. How Many Tweets per Day 2022. Accessed December 27, 2022. https://www.businessdit.com/number-of-tweets-per-day/.
• Clauss, Patrick. 2007. “Prolepsis: Dealing with Multiple Viewpoints in Argument”. In Ontario Society of the Study of Argumentation Conference Archive. Ontario. https://scholar.uwindsor.ca/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1279&context=ossaarchive.
• Currie, Mark. 2006. “Prolepsis”. In About Time: Narrative Fiction and the Philosophy of Time, ed. Mark Currie, 29–50. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press. 152
• Dannenberg, Hilary. 2008. Coincidence and Counterfactuality. Plotting Time and Space in Narrative Fiction. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press.
• Datareportal. 2022. Facebook Statistics and Trends. Accessed December 27, 2022. https://datareportal.com/essential-facebook-stats.
• Ede, Lisa, and Andrea Lunsford. 1987. ‘Audience Addressed / Audience Invoked: The Role of Audience in Composition Theory and Pedagogy’. In The Writing Teacher’s Sourcebook, ed. Edward Corbett, Nancy Myers, and Gary Tate, 320–34. New York: Oxford University Press.
• Eyman, Douglas. 2015. Digital Rhetoric: Theory, Method, Practice. University of Michigan Press. DOI: https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctv65swm2.
• Facebook, 2022. Mark Zuckerberg. Accessed July 25, 2022. https://www.facebook.com/zuck/posts/10114316913387601.
• Floridi, Luciano. 2014. The Fourth Revolution: How the Infosphere Is Reshaping Human Reality. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
• Genette, Gerard. 1980. Narrative Discourse. An Essay In Method. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press.
• Gilbert, Daniel T., and Timothy D. Wilson. 2007. “Prospection: Experiencing the Future”. Science 317 (5843): 1351–54. DOI: 10.1126/science.1144161.
• Graffius, Scott M. 2022. “Lifespan (Half-Life) of Social Media Posts: Update for 2022.” Social Media Analytics Blog. December 28, 2022. https://www.scottgraffius.com/blog/files/social-2022.html.
• Iser, Wolfgang. 1978. The Act of Reading. Baltimore: John Hopkins University.
• Jong, Irene J.F. de. 2014. Narratology and Classics: A Practical Guide. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
• Kermode, Frank. 1967. The Sense of an Ending. New York: Oxford University Press.
• Kind, Amy. 2020. “What Imagination Teaches”. In Becoming Someone New: Essays on Transformative Experience, Choice, and Change, ed. Enoch Lambert and John Schwenkler, 133–46. Oxford University Press. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/oso/9780198823735.003.0008.
• Lanham, Richard A. 1993. The Electronic Word: Democracy, Technology, and the Arts. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
• Levine, Robert. 2003. The Power of Persuasion: How We’re Bought and Sold. Hoboken, NJ: Wiley.
• Lieberman, Henry, Fabio Paternò, Markus Klann, and Volker Wulf. 2006. “End-User Development: An Emerging Paradigm”. In End User Development, ed. Henry Lieberman, Fabio Paternò, and Volker Wulf, 1–8. Dordrecht: Springer Netherlands. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/1-4020-5386-X_1.
• Liveley, Genevieve. 2019. “Anticipation and Narratology”. In Handbook of Anticipation: Theoretical and Applied Aspects of the Use of Future in Decision Making, ed. Roberto Poli, 899–917. Cham: Springer International Publishing. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-91554-8_7.
• Mar, Raymond A., and Keith Oatley. 2008. “The Function of Fiction Is the Abstraction and Simulation of Social Experience”. Perspectives on Psychological Science 3: 173–92. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1745-6924.2008.00073.x.
• Mcluhan, Marshall. 1964. Understanding Media: The Extensions of Man. New York: McGraw-Hill.
• Miller, Riel, Roberto Poli, and Pierre Rossel. 2018. “The Discipline of Anticipation. Foundations for Futures Literacy”. In Transforming the Future Anticipation in the 21st Century, ed. Riel Miller, 51–65. London: Routledge.
• Morson, Gary Saul. 1994. Narrative and Freedom. New Haven: Yale University Press.
• Oakley, Todd. 2011. “Attention and Rhetoric Prolepsis and the Problem of Meaning”. In The Rhetorical Emergence of Culture, ed. Christian Meyer and Felix Girke, 282–303. New York and Oxford: Berghahn Books.
• Prince, Gerard. 1987. A Dictionary of Narratology. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press.
• Ratcliffe, John, and Luke Ratcliffe. 2015. ‘Anticipatory Leadership and Strategic Foresight: Five “Linked Literacies”’. Journal of Futures Studies 20 (1): 1–18.
• Richardson, Brian. 2002. ‘Beyond Story and Discourse: Narrative Time in Postmodern and Nonmimetic Fiction’. In Narrative Dynamics. Essays on Time, Plot, Closure, and Frames, edited by Brian Richardson. Columbus: The Ohio State University Press.
• Ryan, Marie-Laure. 1991. Possible Worlds, Artificial Intelligence and Narrative Theory. Bloomington: University of Indiana Press.
• Savage, Anika, and Michael Sales. 2008. “The Anticipatory Leader: Futurist, Strategist and Integrator’. Strategy & Leadership 36 (6): 28–35. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1108/10878570810918331.
• Garrett S. 1996. Hook, Spin, Buzz: How to Command, Attention, Change Minds & Influence People? Princeton, New Jersey: Petersons/Pacesetters Books.
• Twitter. 2024. Venture Beat. Accessed January 31, 2024. https://twitter.com/VentureBeat/status/1746624500651655583
• Twitter. 2023. Yuval Harari. Accessed January 31, 2024. https://twitter.com/harari_yuval/status/1721906561164169408
• Twitter. 2023. Future Shift. Accessed January 31, 2024. https://twitter.com/futureshift/status/1732671357169586238
• Twitter. 2022. AdBusters. Accessed January 31, 2024. https://twitter.com/Adbusters/status/1532101657743396864
• Twitter. 2022. Amy Webb. Accessed August 3, 2022. https://twitter.com/amywebb/status/1579511325646258176
• Twitter. 2022. Elon Musk. Accessed August 3, 2022. https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1483633282482847744
• Twitter. 2022. Elon Musk. Accessed August 3, 2022. https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1552317587694010368
• Twitter. 2022.Tim Hinchliffe. Accessed August 3, 2022. https://twitter.com/TimHinchliffe/status/1505988917882990597
• Twitter. 2020. Bill Gates. Accessed July 25, 2022. https://twitter.com/BillGates/status/1255902245922709506?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctw camp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Etweet
• Twitter. 2016. Hillary Clinton. Accessed January 31, 2024. https://twitter.com/HillaryClinton/status/791263939015376902
• Twitter. 2014. Leonardo DiCaprio. Accessed August 3, 2022. https://twitter.com/leodicaprio/status/428733524544204801
• Verhulsdonck, Gustav, and Marohang Limbu, eds. 2013. “Digital Rhetoric and Global Literacies: Communication Modes and Digital Practices in the Networked World”. Advances in Linguistics and Communication Studies (ALCS) Book Series. IGI Global.
• Veszelszki, Ágnes. 2017. Digilect. The Impact of Infocommunication Technology on Language. Berlin, Boston: De Gruyter Saur.
• Vettorello, Mattia, and James Burke. 2021. “Anticipatory Leadership: An Invitation To Be More Creative”. In Leadership for the Future: Lessons from the Past, Current Approaches, and Future Insights, ed. Thomas Mengel, 170–91. Newcastle, UK: Cambridge Scholars Publishing.
• Visser, Jacky, Konat, Barbara, Duthie, Rory, Koszowy, Marcin, Budzynska, Katarzyna, and Reed, Chris. 2020. “Argumentation in the 2016 US Presidential Elections: Annotated corpora of television debates and social media reaction”. Language Resources and Evaluation, 54: 123–154.
• Visser, Jacky, Lawrence, John, Reed, Chris, Wagemans, Jean, and Walton, Douglas (2021). Annotating Argument Schemes. Argumentation, 35: 101–139.154
• Walton, D., Reed, C., & Macagno, F. 2008. Argumentation Schemes. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
• Welch, Kathleen E. 1999. Electric Rhetoric: Classical Rhetoric, Oralism and a New Literacy. Cambridge, Massachusetts: MIT Press.
• Zappen, James P. 2005. “Digital Rhetoric: Toward an Integrated Theory”. Technical Communication Quarterly 14 (3): 319–25. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1207/s15427625tcq1403_10.
• Zittoun, Tania, and Frédéric Cerchia. 2013. ‘Imagination as Expansion of Experience’. Integrative Psychological & Behavioral Science 47: 305–24. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12124-013-9234-2.

Identifiers

DOI

10.29107/rr2024.1.10

Biblioteka Nauki

39745732