Rhetorical exclusion. The party in Hyskenstræde as rhetorical act

Abstract

A rhetorical community is a community as it is represented, presupposed and developed in rhetorical discourse. This discourse thus reveals whom the community includes and excludes. Whereas several theorists have examined the lack of inclusion of rhetorical communities, there has been less focus on how one is excluded from a rhetorical community. This article analyzes the media coverage of a party that ended in vandalism in Hyskenstræde, central Copenhagen in May 2009 and the authors identify three strategies of rhetorical exclusion that strip the vandals of the possibility of exercising rhetorical agency. The authors argue that the event is misrepresented and that it should be regarded as a thick vernacular performed by a counterpublic. Instead of excluding dissenting rhetorical acts from the rhetorical community, it is sounder to include them as rhetorical – regardless of whether they are found acceptable. The article, thus, takes another starting point than rhetorical criticism most often do, as its aim is not to evaluate the soundness of the acts, but to argue that the acts were rhetorical acts with motive and purpose.