Dialogic Confession: Bonhoeffer's Rhetoric of Responsibility

by Ronald C. Arnett, Clifford Christians (Foreword)

In this landmark volume of contemporary communication theory, Ronald C. Arnett applies the metaphor of dialogic confession—which enables historical moments to be addressed from a confessed standpoint and through a communicative lens—to the works of German theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer, who pointed to an era of postmodern difference with his notion of "a world come of age." Arnett’s interpretations of Bonhoeffer’s life and scholarship in contention with Nazi dominance offer implications for a dialogic confession that engages the complexity of postmodern narrative contention.
Rooted in classical theory, the field of communication ethics is abstract and arguably outmoded. In Dialogic Bonhoeffer’s Rhetoric of Responsibility, Arnett locates cross-cultural and comparative anchors that not only bring legitimacy and relevance to the field but also develop a conceptual framework that will advance and inspire future scholarship.

256 pages, Hardcover

First published May 20, 2005

About the author

Ronald C. Arnett is Chair and Professor of the Affiliated Departments of Communication and English at Duquesne University. He is the author of three books: Dwell in Peace: Applying Nonviolence to Everyday Relationships; Communication and Community: Implications of Martin Buber's Dialogue, for which he received the 1988 Book Award by the Religious Speech Association; and Dialogic Education: Conversations About Ideas and Between People. He is also the coeditor of The Further Reach of Dialogue and Community Ethics in an Age of Diversity.