David Jolliffe defines ‘Genre’ in his article in the Encyclopedia of Rhetoric and Composition (T. Enos [ed.] 1996) as ‘A type of spoken or written discourse, recognized as conventional by members of an intellectual community, that draws together certain substantive and stylistic features in response to a recurrent rhetorical situation’ (p. 279). Staying within the mainstream contemporary rhetorical approach he goes on to list Shakespearean sonnets, horror movies and bad-news business letters as examples of genre and extensively quotes Mikhail Bakhtin, while avoiding any reference to the rich history of rhetorical genres in Aristotle, Cicero and Quintilian.
Given the slowly fading awareness of classical genera causarum, P.'s extensive and masterful treatise is both timely and useful. P. shifts the focus of the discussion on genre back to its roots in classical antiquity and thus provides a very solid fundament for classical and modern scholarship alike. Her single biggest strength in this endeavour is the close interweaving of detailed philological analysis with precise knowledge of rhetorical theory.
P.'s book is divided into four main sections of roughly equal length: pre-Aristotelian theory and practice of genres; genres in Aristotle's Rhetoric; rhetorical genres in the Roman world; and testimonia and appendix.
The first section (113 pages plus 9 pages of introduction) traces the origins of rhetorical genres in classical Greece of the fifth and fourth centuries b.c. It includes sections on most of the expected figures: Gorgias, Thucydides, Plato, Demosthenes and Anaximenes (P. herself seems to take no ultimate stance on the authorship question, but acknowledges the prevailing view that ascribes the Rhetorica ad Alexandrum to Anaximenes). This section is held together by being pre-Aristotelian, not necessarily by chronology, but by rhetorical tradition and development of theory, a point that P. addresses explicitly at least for the Rhetorica ad Alexandrum (p. 112). Each of the chapters in this part is very well researched and equally well written. Teachers in search of a pleasant and precise mini-introduction into early Greek oratory or the origins of the encomium, might well want to turn to Chapter 1 or Chapter 2 of the book respectively. The first section is a well-balanced scholarly achievement with no noticeable shortcomings. The only possible disappointment is P.'s choice to omit entirely any discussion of genre before the fifth century (e.g. in Homer) – a choice that is nevertheless understandable given the already epic size of the treated topic and time span.
Section 2 (120 pages) opens with a sentence that sets the tone for this part of the book: ‘Aristotle's Rhetoric is the crowning theoretical achievement in Greek classical rhetoric’ (p. 123). P. analyses Aristotle's contributions to the theory of rhetorical genres in much greater detail than any other work. Given his position in the development of the genera causarum this emphasis is very plausible. P. continues her analysis in this section with the same diligence and preciseness that marks the first part. She includes not only a discussion of the well-known problems in the definition and classification of the genres, but also less familiar aspects, such as the relationship of the genres to ethos, pathos, lexis and taxis, as well as the interaction of the genres with the topoi. Also similar to the first part is P.'s attention to philological detail that never obstructs the easy readability of the text or the sophisticated analysis of rhetorical theory. Paradigmatic for this felicitous interaction of classics and rhetoric is P.'s choice to include large quotations from the original text as well as an English translation wherever possible.
The third section (135 pages plus 8 pages of conclusion) covers a vast territory, spanning areas from Hellenism and Roman rhetoric to the interaction of the genera causarum with the officia oratoris and rhetorical genres in progymnasmata and declamations. Naturally the discussions in this section are less focused than the detailed analysis of Aristotelian rhetoric. It is all the more impressive, then, that P. covers even seemingly small side issues with the same detailed knowledge she displays in the discussion of Aristotle, Plato or the Sophists. In the four pages she dedicates to the role of the genres in stasis theory, she outlines the key problem (can stasis theory be beneficially applied outside of the genus iudiciale?), discusses the respective stances of the key figures in history on it, and then finally concludes (in my opinion absolutely correctly) that although many ancient and modern authorities claim that stasis theory can be used in all three genres, actual useful applications of that claim are very scarce (p. 349).
Section 4 (149 pages) is not labelled as an independent section, but hides behind the modest headings of ‘testimonia’ and ‘appendix’. It does, however, contain two additional pearls of this already highly valuable tome. In the testimonia section P. presents in 125 pages a discussion of the translation of key Greek and Latin terms and an exhaustive selection of 258 excerpts from classical sources together with their English translations. This collection of sources further improves the already excellent usability of the work and the convenience for the reader. In the appendix P. includes a discussion of ‘Speech Genres in Contemporary Rhetorical Theory’ that links this new foundation of classical genera back to the modern usage à la Jolliffe mentioned above. The fact that P. manages to weave a fine network of links from the classical genera to its modern usage in the likes of Chaim Perelman, Michel Meyer, Umberto Eco, Karlyn Kohrs Campbell and Kathleen Hall Jamieson is all the more impressive given that these contemporary rhetorical theories are – presumably – not the natural home turf of a classicist. The book also contains an excellent bibliography (30 pages).
What remains are very few small criticisms on an outstandingly well rounded, excellently researched, highly relevant, expertly edited (a malicious search reveals one single spelling mistake, p. 526) and pleasantly written book. One of these (on the choice to exclude pre-fifth century materials) has been mentioned above already. A second one might be only a natural consequence of a meticulously balanced approach to academic analysis, but even if a neutral and unbiased analysis is undoubtedly a high goal (and a goal that P. easily achieves), some readers might occasionally miss a clearer voice of the author or wish for a concluding thesis: is there a best practice in organising genres? A criterion that is superior to others? Or ultimate shortcomings in the classical theory of genera causarum? Finally, and on a lesser note: after providing generous translations for all Latin and Greek sources cited in the text in order to keep a larger readership on-board – would it not be a good idea to provide the same service to those readers who are not able to read Umberto Eco in his native Italian (p. 522)?
P. opens her extensive work with a very brief introduction and review of the key figures in the modern reception and theory of rhetorical genres: T.C. Burgess, J. Klek, V. Buchheit, I. Beck, A. Hellwig, L. Pernot, L.E. Rossi and F. Cairns. After the publication of this excellent volume that covers all crucial aspects of rhetorical genres in admirable clarity and based on an outstanding knowledge of primary and secondary literature, one will need to add another name to this list of reference works: C. Pepe.
