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.
Dialogic Confession: Bonhoeffer's Rhetoric of Responsibility draws on philosophical hermeneutics to frame a communicative ethic centered on the pragmatic importance of confession in interpersonal discourse. As an example of a communicative ethic, dialogic confession provides the philosophical underpinnings necessary to consider Bonhoeffer as an author of this foretold moment. Uniting dialogue and rhetoric to establish an edifying ethics of communication in the context of modernity, Arnett points to dialogic confession as a responsive rhetoric of discernment that involves the interplay of persons, story, and historical moment.
Rooted in classical theory, the field of communication ethics is abstract and arguably outmoded. In Dialogic Confession: 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.
