Speech! Speech! Dramatising Rhetorical Citizenship

强有力的公众辩论以及辩论和反驳的自由对民主至关重要。然而，今天的政治争论更加宗派主义和愤怒，对错误信息的恐惧（理所当然地）普遍存在，政治讨论仅限于志同道合的群体在网上相互交谈。在此背景下，拟议的项目开发并重新部署了ahrc资助的“修辞危机”研究的结果。它以“修辞公民”的概念为中心，它指出了我们的共同权利，即听到和看到政治行为者直接向我们提出他们的论点，自己判断他们，最重要的是，以与专业政治行为者相匹配的技能参与公共辩论和讨论。由此可见，公民需要：a)有权发展、撰写和发表自己的有说服力的论点；b)了解政治演讲和修辞的技巧和风格，以及如何理解和评估它们；c)成为严肃对待政治演讲和辩论的政治文化的一部分，并创造可以直接和不经中介地体验演讲和辩论的场合。该项目将培养学生写作和发表有力演讲的技能，以及对政治修辞好坏的批判性思维，增强共同的修辞公民意识。它将进一步和深化学术研究向新社区的传播，作为发展和向公众提供这些修辞艺术培训的一部分，鼓励批判性地庆祝政治演讲和修辞公民对我们民主生活的潜在贡献。该项目将主要通过学术项目团队与Dash Arts之间的合作来实现这一目标，Dash Arts是一家屡获殊荣的国际戏剧公司，专注于创造独特的现场和数字活动。我们将共同发展戏剧实践和原创实验表演作品，通过这些作品，参与者和观众可以发展他们对政治修辞和辩论的批判性理解和实践经验。通过与六个英国城市的当地艺术、社区和政治组织合作举办的讲习班和公开表演，我们将培训人们在演讲写作和演讲方面的艺术，并开发出这种培训的模式，使其比项目的生命周期更持久。此外，通过与欧洲演讲撰稿人网络（一个为公共和私人政府、金融和慈善组织工作的演讲撰稿人组成的专业协会）的合作，项目团队和Dash Arts将与从业人员进行直接对话，这将有助于他们的实践，并有助于他们撰写吸引公民参与的政治演讲。我们将通过“政治演讲节”促进公众对政治言论和修辞的广泛讨论和反思。作为项目的高潮，这将结合小组会谈、论坛剧院、对话、研讨会和表演。它将把公众、记者、教育工作者、政治家和全国布道者聚集在一起。它还将展示在以城市为基础的研讨会上学习修辞/演讲的不同个人的技能。我们还将通过记录所有这些活动，制作和传播一个原创播客系列，记录参与者开始、发展和发表演讲的旅程，从而激发公众的讨论和反思。我们会透过更广泛的媒体外展，特别是举办工作坊地区的当地媒体，促进公众的了解。在结束时，该项目将有助于发展一系列可以进一步完善和上演的戏剧作品，以及社区和大众教育的模式，这是一种对我们民主的生存至关重要的艺术。

Robust public debate and the freedom to make arguments and counterarguments are essential to democracy. Today, however, political dispute is ever more sectarian and angry, fears of misinformation are (justifiably) widespread and political discussion confined within groups of the like-minded talking to each other online. Against this background the proposed project develops and redeploys findings from AHRC-funded research into 'The Crisis of Rhetoric'. It centres on the concept of 'rhetorical citizenship', which names our common rights to hear and see political actors present their arguments directly to us, judge them for ourselves and, crucially, to take part in public debate and discussion with skills that match those of professional political actors. It follows that citizens need to:a) be empowered to develop, write and deliver their own persuasive argumentsb) have knowledge of the techniques and styles of political speech and rhetoric, and of how to understand and assess them c) be part of a political culture which takes political speech and debate seriously, and which creates occasions when speech and argument can be experienced directly and unmediated.The project will cultivate skills in writing and delivering powerful speeches, as well as critical thinking about what makes for good and bad political rhetoric, enhancing shared rhetorical citizenship. It will further and deepen the dissemination of academic research to new communities, as part of developing and delivering training for members of the public in these rhetorical arts, by encouraging critically-minded celebration of the potential contribution of political speech and rhetorical citizenship to our democratic lives.The project will achieve this primarily through a partnership between the academic project team and Dash Arts, an award-winning and internationally engaged theatre company specialising in creating unique live and digital events. Together we will develop theatrical practices and a body of original experimental performance work through which participants and audiences can develop their critical understanding and practical experience of political rhetoric and argument. Through workshops and public performances developed in partnership with local arts, community and political organisations in six English cities, we will train people in the arts of speechwriting and speechmaking and develop models for such training that outlast the life of the project. In addition, through partnership with the European Speechwriter Network (a professional association for speechwriters working in a range of public and private governmental, financial and charitable organisations) the project team and Dash Arts will engage practitioners in direct dialogue that will contribute to their practice, and to their writing of political speeches which engage and involve citizens. We will promote wider public discussion and reflection on political speech and rhetoric through a 'Festival of Political Speech'. The culmination of the project, this will combine panel talks, forum theatre, conversations, workshops and performances. It will bring together members of the public, journalists, educators, politicians and national advocates of oracy. It will also showcase the skills of the diverse individuals who will have learned rhetoric/speechmaking at the city-based workshops.We will also stimulate public discussion and reflection through documenting all of these activities, producing and disseminating an original podcast series following participants' journeys as they began, developed and delivered their speeches. We will promote public understanding through wider media outreach, in particular local media in the areas where the workshops are staged. At its close the project will have helped develop a body of theatrical work that can be further refined and staged, as well as models for community and popular education in an art crucial for the survival of our democracy.