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RHETORIC AND CULTURAL TRANSFORMATIONS

A reflection on the relationship between rhetoric and cultural transformations begins with a series of observations and predictions formulated by the represen-tatives of different academic backgrounds: philological, literary, legał and media studies. Maria Barłowska, Iwona Bartoszewicz, Barbara Bogołębska, Leszek Drong, Wiesław Godzić, Jolanta Jabłońska-Bonca, Jakub Z. Lichański, Małgorzata Lisowska-Magdziarz, Cyprian Mielczarski, Piotr Nehring and Antoni Smuszkie-wicz answer the ąuestion about the challenges faced by rhetoric in contemporary culture. New spaces and forms of rhetorical action, the rise of popular culture, the dominance of mediated texts, the impact of new media to describe the ethos of the author, the problem of the rhetorical competence of the audience, the relevance of an axiological model offered by classical rhetoric - these are just some of the issues raised in the introduction.

Further articles focus on the analysis of phenomena that are being invoked, or form a continuation of the attitudes and Solutions operating in earlier eras. The old themes and styles appear in contemporary culture, both as a historical costu-me which makes communication morę attractive and a codę referring to a com-mon identity which allows us to formulate persuasive messages aimed at a specific group.

In the study “Lawa rhetorica: changes in the role of rhetoric in the culture of seventeenth-century Silesia” Beata Gaj shows how well aware of the changes in rhetoric were the authors of the seventeenth century Silesia. What they noticed was the fact that the existing legacy of rhetoric creates the possibility of innovation sińce rhetoric is the tool for detecting and revealing the new phenomena of the changing world.

Cultural changes inevitably lead to transformations within particular genres. This is the topie of the article “Panegyrism during the city council meeting: a lauda-tion for the honorary Citizen” by Michał Czerenkiewicz. A contemporary panegyric serves as an illustration of alterations which the genre has undergone throughout the centuries.

The methods of application and reinterpretation of historical themes in adver-tising is the subject of the analysis by Oliwia Tarasewicz-Gry ta in her article “The past as a cultural construct. Images of a revolution and communism in the service of persuasion.” The author explains why the metaphorical images of a revolution,