Emerson as Rhetorician and Communal Author

Abstract

Roger Thompson’s Emerson and the History of Rhetoric and Christopher Hanlon’s Emerson’s Memory Loss present some challenging questions to the Emerson community. Though very different, both books are interested in Emerson’s style, genres, and creative process, and they make intriguing and often persuasive claims about Emerson’s relationship to his contexts and audiences. Thompson’s purpose is dual. He wants Emerson scholars to take account of rhetoric and scholars of rhetoric to take account of Emerson. Hanlon’s monograph is a provocation to reconsider Emerson’s authorship by examining the roles of others in the creation of certain texts.