Criticism and conversational texts: rhetorical bases of role, audience, and style in the Buber-Rogers dialogue

This essay describes conversation as an ensemble accomplishment that can be illuminated by critics working with specific texts within a rhetorical framework. We first establish dialogue as the key concept for any criticism of conversation, specifying the rhetorical dimensions of interpersonal dialogue. Second, we show how template thinking is particularly dangerous for conversational critics and suggest a research (anti)method, based on a coauthorship, that provides a thoroughgoing dialogical access to texts. Finally, we exemplify dialogic criticism of a conversational text by analyzing the famous 1957 dialogue of philosopher Martin Buber and psychologist Carl Rogers.Portions of this essay were first developed in a presentation to the international interdisciplinary conference on Martin Buber: His Impact on the Human Sciences, San Diego State University, in October, 1991. A version of the present essay was presented at the Central States Communication Association and Southern States Communication Association Joint Conference, Lexington, Kentucky, in April, 1993. We acknowledge gratefully the assistance of Professor John Stewart in providing a copy of the audiotape of the Buber-Rogers dialogue, and also appreciate the assistance of Professor Maurice Friedman who, through interview and correspondence, shared his impressions of the event and helped us refine our analysis. We note that he disagrees strongly with us on several matters of interpretation.