Velkomst og afstandtagen

Abstract

This paper looks to humour and performance while studying how ethos is negotiated and distributed in relation to audiences when rhetors are introduced and accept the word. One older and two more recent examples are examined. First, bishop Lovis Henry Ford introducing president Bill Clinton in Memphis Church of Christ in November 1993, enabling a remarkable performance in terms of subject re-positioning on Clinton’s part; next, two managers at the Danish radio station Radio24syv acting as incompetent hosts and foils to high-profile employees in an award-winning ad campaign; and finally comedian Ricky Gervais hosting the Golden Globe award show, demonstratively excluding rather than welcoming each of the next speakers on stage. Together, the case studies highlight the strong potential of introductions as occasions for rhetorical maneuvering (Phillips, 2006). What may seem like a trivial ritual, has the power to destabilize rhetorical situations, offering space for dissent and negotiation of values within communities. Keywords introductions, epideictic rhetoric, ethos, rhetorical maneuvers, humor, performance.