(Self-)portrait of prof. R.C.: A retrospective

Abstract

This essay offers a retrospective on the four special issues of this journal (1957, 1980, 1990, 2001) dedicated to the state of the art of rhetorical criticism. Drawing on Oscar Wilde's The Portrait of Mr. W. H. as allegory, the essay also functions to queer this retrospective in an ongoing effort to queer rhetorical studies. The essay closes with a prospective call for critical self-portraiture and genealogy of rhetorical criticism. © 2010 Western States Communication Association.