The “new rhetoric” is the blanket term that best describes the writings in this issue of Uránia. The new rhetoric can embrace all public speaking processes, such as public and artistic appearances, oral lore transmission, creativity, artistic expression, dramatic language, media language, TikTok or elevator speech, to highlight only the most important and interesting keywords from these writings. The studies, essays, book reviews and interview are closely related to the University of Theatre and Film Arts’ research in and teaching about the theory of art; and to the university’s mission to promote a high-quality performing arts culture.
In her introductory essay, Anna Adamikné Jászó, a prominent figure in the revival and relaunch of rhetoric in Hungary, presents the characteristics of delivery. Delivery was discussed in rhetorics for centuries before it was separated from rhetoric and became a separate discipline. After Zoltán Kodály’s radio lecture in 1937 (On the deterioration of Hungarian pronunciation), delivery became virtually the exclusive field of study. The paper describes speech disorders, discusses pronunciation errors in detail, and offers specific examples and advice on improving speaking techniques. It criticises sight-reading (the whole-word approach) for undermining the culture of speech, the overuse of workbooks and worksheets, and misses positive role models in theatre and media.
When appearing in public, anxiety may have a destructive effect on performance. Gergely Kisházy discusses the typical phenomena of this in his study: atypical speech sounds, speech positions, breathing sounds, sighing sounds, yawning sounds, nasal sounds, whispering sounds, dry mouth sounds, croaking sounds, coughing sounds, stomach sounds, belching sounds, hiccup sounds, sneezing sounds, laughing sounds… and gives advice on how to hide the symptoms of stress and reduce stage fright using suggestive communication.
Géza Balázs gives an overview of the theory and practice of rhetoric as well as the speech training of actors and radio presenters in Hungary. He also draws attention to the underemphasised individuality of speech (idiolect) and to the expectations of public language use, speech on stage and in the media.
In 1999, the national Kossuth Oratory Competition was launched at the initiative of Anna Adamikné Jászó. The aim of the competition is to foster and develop the use of the Hungarian mother tongue and the culture of speech, and not least to think together about rhetoric. With the help of the Petőfi Cultural Agency, the competition has been fundamentally renewed as from 2022, adding a TikTok or elevator speech in the online round and a debate culture task in the final at the National Theatre. In his paper, Ádám Pölcz, the main organiser of the competitions today, reviews the history of this oratory competition and the principles behind its renewal, giving advice to those preparing for the competition.
The rest of the articles in this issue are related to rhetoric in a broader sense. Creativity and innovation could be the key words of connection in these writings.
In his contribution, Zsolt Antal presents the Norwegian media model, which serves as a model for Europe in that, by adapting to the changes in social communication brought about by the information revolution and social networks, it successfully integrated global, profit-oriented social networks into the public service media system. Through this, Norway ensures that the public service media, which is very popular in the country, will continue to operate and survive as the best way to foster the mother tongue and national culture.
The essay by Richard Gough examines the impact of Edward Gordon Craig and Eugenio Barba on the global performing arts scene. The schools they founded as realms of transformative discovery and creativity transcend cultural boundaries and continents.
Linked to this is the review by András Timár of Eugenio Barba and Nicola Savarese’s The Five Continents of Theatre, which will be published for the 10th Theatre Olympics in Hungary in 2023. Instead of a linear-causal approach, the book uses a unique method to portray the history of the theatre in the world in an easy-to-read, mosaic-like way.
In his essay Gábor Viktor Kozma explores Suzuki Tadashi’s unique theatrical thinking, with a special focus on his insights on the body and space.
Creativity is the keyword of Ildikó Tamás, ethnographer and linguist, in her new book “Give me Net!” – Language, Imagery and Creativity in Children’s and Students’ Folklore. Géza Balázs recommends the book to all those who wish to know and understand the art of language in more depth.
Zsolt Antal, Editor-in-Chief
