Ch. 2 Routines and Practices

Page By: Mitch Ackal

The Logic of Justification, or, Rhetoric

• A good critic must not simply discover implicit or symptomatic meanings, but must also justify them by the use of Rhetoric. Rhetoric is the means by which a critic mounts his argument and uses his power of persuasion. His justification of his interpretations are concerned with his ability to persuade and not neccessarily concerned with truth.

• Rhetorical activity has three main characteristics:

1. Inventio - the devising of arguments. This includes three sorts of proofs.
   1. Ethical Proofs. They appeal to the virtues of a speaker and will warrant the critics opinion.
   2. Pathetic proofs. These rely on emotional appeals to an audience.
   3. Logical Proofs. Case-centered logic revolving around examples and enthymemes.
2. Disposito- arranging arguments into an appealing order. The order used by many film critics includes plot synopsis, background on film, arguments, and a summary judgement.
3. Elocutio- style. Each critic has a certain style or panache to include his persona into a work.

• In summary, interpretation involves making an argument, organizing a plan of attack, and stylistic maneuvers.

An Anatomy of Interpretation

• The goal of a crirtic is to produce a persuasive and novel interpretation, in a process that is at once psycological, social, and discursive. This process involves four activities.
  1. Assume the most pertinent meanings to be either implicit or symptomatic or both.
  2. Make salient one or more semantic fields.
  3. Map the semantic fields onto the film at several levels by correlating textual units with semantic features.
  4. Articulate an argument that demonstrates the novelty and validity of the interpretation

• These activities do not necessarily occur in this order but are all parallel.
• The next few chapters provide an analysis of the logic underlying the interpretive activity.

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