ABSTRACT
Criticism under the rubric of eloquence figured significantly in rhetoric and belles lettres from the middle 1700s into the mid-1800s, after which literary critics largely expunged purposive speech from the canon. In the new discipline of communication, oratorical criticism reemerged during the 1920s as part of an expanded speech-department curriculum, while in journalism, media criticism toggled between institutional-professional concerns and power dynamics. Postmodern rhetorical criticism blends older metrics of process and aesthetics with a new emphasis on media and culture.
