Press Release

Contact: Sheryl Hayes
Sheryl@virginia.edu
www.virginiafoundation.org
Virginia Foundation for the Humanities
145 Ednam Drive Charlottesville, VA
22903-4629
PH: 434-924-3296
FAX: 434-296-4714
For Immediate Release

“The Rhetorics of Evil”
Jennifer L. Geddes, VFH Fellow, explores the meanings of “evil” in public discourse

Jennifer L. Geddes, VFH Fellow, will present “The Rhetorics of Evil.”  In her talk, Geddes will discuss how the word “evil” has undergone a resurrection of sorts in public discourse recently, particularly since the terrorist attacks of September 11th, yet little attention has been paid to what speakers mean when they use the term or to the rhetorical strategies they use when they talk about events deemed “evil.”  The event, part of the Spring 2006 VFH Fellows Seminar Series Visionary Voices in the Midst of Violence, will be held on Tuesday, April 18, 4-5:30 p.m. at the Virginia Foundation for the Humanities.

Geddes’ presentation draws on a larger project that explores the rhetorics of evil—that is, the multiple and conflicting ways that evil is narrated and represented in language, and the ways that stories can resist, expose, or even participate in the evil they narrate. Geddes will discuss the rhetorical strategies used by perpetrators when they speak about the evil they have committed, paying particular attention to the ways in which they disguise, hide, and distort both their own participation in this evil and the very nature of the evil itself. She will examine how the narrative forms in which these perpetrators choose to speak—for example, confession, complaint, report, explanation—lead to particular, and sometimes surprising, demands on their readers and listeners. Some responses that perpetrators request from their listeners – such as, sympathy, camaraderie, or support – can, if granted, actually lead the listener to be implicated in the evil presented. In these situations, listening becomes an ethically charged activity.  Because of this, an ethics of response is needed – one that is informed by an understanding of the rhetorics of evil.

Jennifer L. Geddes is Research Associate Professor of Religious Studies and Co-Program Director for the Institute for Advanced Studies in Culture at the University of Virginia. She is the editor of The Hedgehog Review: Critical Reflections on Contemporary Culture and of the volume Evil after Postmodernism: Histories, Narratives, Ethics (Routledge, 2001).

The Virginia Foundation for the Humanities (VFH), based in Charlottesville, is a statewide non-profit organization dedicated to promoting the humanities, and to using the humanities to address issues of broad public concern.  The VFH Fellows Program is funded by the National Endowment for the Humanities, the Commonwealth of Virginia, and private donations.

In all its programs, the Foundation works to make scholarship accessible; to promote understanding and discussion of enduring and contemporary issues; and to broaden the range of educational opportunities available to all Virginians.

VFH Fellows seminars are free and open to the public and are held at the Virginia Foundation for the Humanities, 145 Ednam Drive, Charlottesville.  Presentations begin at 4 p.m. and are followed by refreshments and an informal time for discussion and questions.  

For more information on the seminar visit www.virginiafoundation.org/fellowships.  For directions to the VFH, visit virginiafoundation.org or contact aspencer@virginia.edu, 434-243-5526.  For media inquiries about the seminar topic, fellowships, or other VFH programs, contact Sheryl Hayes at 434-924-3296 or Sheryl@virginia.edu

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