| Description |
The purpose of this study was to discover the rhetorical functions and communicative roles of oral discourse in an intercultural conflict directly relating to the issue of polygamy and the gaining of statehood for Utah during the years of 1886 through 1896. The twofold nature of this study is, first, to contribute to the body of knowledge concerning the history of public address in America, and secondly, to explore the use of a neo-Aristote1ian type of rhetorical analysis. The specific questions relating to the history of public address were: (1) How significant was the issue of polygamy to the gaining of statehood for Utah? (2) How did the cultural conditions w i.t h Ln the Utah Territory correspond to the same conditions as they were presented in the delegates' speeches to the United States House of Representatives? (3) What were the rhetorical functions of selected speeches presented in Congress by the Utah Territorial delegates? and (4) What role did the rhetorical functions serve in the intercultural conflict be tween the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and the American people? The specific questions related to functional analysis were: (1) Does the concept of "functional analysis" contribute to our understanding of the "flow of history?" (2) Can "rhetorical functions" of one speech be determined by assessing it in conjunction with the cultural setting and other discourses in the same rhetorical transaction? (3) Can the determination of rhetorical functions be manifested in a judgment of "functional," "nonfunctional," or "dysfunctional" roles when relating to an intercultural conflict? and (4) Are the concepts of "rhetorical functions" and "functional, nonfunctional, 2nd dysfunctional roles" appropriate to rhetorical theory as a means of analysis? The initial chapters of this dissertation include social, biographical, and environmental data. It begins with a brief review of the Norman Church and the polygamy issue up to 1886, and then presents a more complex, comprehensive description of the social setting in Utah between 1886 and 1896. The following chapter presents character sketches of the three territorial delegates who represented Utah during the years of this study and a brief review of their political careers. The latter portion is concerned with an "over -laying" of content taken from selected speeches presented by the Utah Territorial delegates at the Congressional level, and relating them to the social setting and environmental conditions whi.ch existed in the Utah Territory. These speeches are also analyzed in relation to other communicative acts presented in the same rhetorical t r an saction, including speeches by opposing congressmen. From this analysis the rhetorical functions and communicative roles we re determined. It was concluded that the Ls sue of polygamy vias a secondary consideration in the granting of statehood to Utah; however, it did play a significant role in the intercultural conflict. The delegates themselves, as much as their speeches, reflected the cultural shifts being effected in the Utah Territory. Of the four selected speeches analyzed, two of t hem were found to be days functionaI, one nonfunctional, and one functional, In the speeches where the communicative roles were judged to be dysfunctional the rhetorical functions were generally negative, and in the speech judged functional the rhetorical functions were generally positive. Because the impressionistic nature of identifying the rhetorical functions seems too subjective, it is suggested that further research be directed to the goal of objectifying those judgments. The concept of functional analysis does, however, contribute to our understanding of the flow of history. |
