The Rhetoric of the Audience and Reception Assumptions

Abstract

This study attempts to present a vision of the transformations of Arabic rhetorical studies from focusing on the creator to focusing on the recipient, as an introductory formulation of audience rhetoric. It examines the theoretical foundations in Arabic heritage, highlighting their close relationship with the creator both theoretically and practically. The study also identifies the profound transformations in rhetorical thought in the modern era due to cultural exchange with the West. It further analyses the approaches adopted by Arab scholars in the early twentieth century, shedding light on a new understanding of rhetoric. Ultimately, it aims to establish rhetoric as a project of aesthetic transformation towards the recipient, developing it into an applied framework that investigates the audience under the concept of audience rhetoric. The study revealed that the transformations in rhetorical studies at the beginning of the twenty-first century produced proposals that raise the overlap between rhetoric and public discourse, and examine its functions, effects, and virtual communication, according to a concept that re-presents rhetoric under the title of public rhetoric.