John Henry Newman: The Rhetoric of the Real

Abstract

Uses one of Newman’s Advent sermons to illustrate what he meant by the concept of the real. In the sermon Newman reveals his belief that sinful people are prone to ignore or obfuscate what is real, because reality includes an acknowledgement of God and God’s plan for humankind. Argues that Newman would stand against theorists who see words as fluid signifiers; he felt people should strive to get beyond “unreal” words to the reality that sincere speech describes.