Rhetorical Poetics Theory and Practice of Figural and Symbolic Reading in Modern French Literature

The current, renewed interest in rhetoric, particularly as it relates to the art of literary interpretation, has returned tropes to their central position in the reading process. In this incisive volume, Donald Rice and Peter Schofer provide a sound and systematic redefinition of the major tropes and demonstrate how every act of reading is necessarily rooted in those tropological operations. The implications of their study are far-reaching. By identifying the rhetorical steps that must be followed in explicating any literary work, Rice and Schofer provide the reader with a clear guide to fiction of all genres and periods. Anyone involved in literary interpretation, and looking for a model that promises a heightened appreciation and grasp of figurative texts, will welcome the resulting volume.