Rhetorical Strategies and Generic Conventions

Abstract

This is the first extensive comparative study that systematically illustrates how Galen tailors his rhetorical strategies according to the genre of literature he is using. This study is part of a growing body of literature which attempts to address the over-arching question posed by Prof. van der Eijk in Toward a Rhetoric of Ancient Scientific Discourse-'How was scientific knowledge expressed and communicated in the ancient world?'. The particular aim of this study is to provide insight into the interrelationship between scientific knowledge, genre and rhetoric in the Galenic Corpus. To illustrate this, six Galenic texts were selected as exemplars of different types of scientific communication: protreptic, prolegomena, medical commentary, isagogic text, thesis and scientific treatise. Each exemplar is systematically analysed in respect to its understood objective, participants (author/audience), structure, language, level of explanation and the kinds of proofs used. This analysis is informed both by modern linguistic theory as well as by ancient definitions and practices of the aforementioned types of discourse. The format of this study lends itself to drawing comparisons between the aforementioned texts. This study illustrates how Galen is a skilled communicator who adjusts his authorial posture, arguments and stylistic register to a broad range of communicative situations and audiences.