The rhetoric of sound, the sound of arguments. Three propositions, three questions, and an afterthought for the study of sonic and multimodal argumentation

Abstract

One of the most prominent new areas of research within the expanding field of argumentation is the study of sound arguments and sonic argumentation. The research in multimodal argumentation and rhetoric encourages us to revisit the important questions of why we do research (epistemology), how we do research (method), and the way we communicate our research (style and mode of address). This paper addresses these issues in the study of sonic and multimodal argument by making three propositions and asking three questions. The propositions are: 1) Establish what you mean by argument, 2) Attend to materiality and aesthetics, 3) Be empirical. The questions are: 1) What is the role of aesthetics and materiality in argumentation? 2) How should we represent arguments and argumentation? 3) Can there be argument without material signification? The paper finishes with a brief afterthought on the differences between the study of rhetoric in the U.S. and Northern Europe.

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