Religious Dialectics of Pain and Imagination

Bradford T. Stull, RELIGIOUS DIALECTICS OF PAIN AND IMAGINATION. Albany, NY: State University of New York Press, 1994; pp. 196, $17.95 paper.

Despite cries for multiculturalism and pluralism in higher education, few rhetoricians have analyzed the voices from Latin America. Bradford T. Stull analyzes the ideas, writings, and philosophical assumptions of two Latin Americans and two North Americans, about two common human experiences-- pain and imagination- - in light of what he calls "religious dialectics". This text will not be the last word from those who study liberation rhetoric but it is one whose ideas will intrigue the reader and whose perspectives must be addressed.

Lest the term "religion" dissuade the reader; please note that Stull does not argue for or against any forms of religious orthodoxy In fact, what he defines as "the religious" is viewed quite broadly: liberationist Roman Catholicism (as opposed to orthodox), Zen Buddhism, and spiritual mysticism. This is covered in more detail in the section which reviews Stull's use of "the Religious."

More importantly, this book covers two "liberators" who were connected directly with the pain of Latin Americans who were affected by despotic rulers and a third individual who was indirectly connected with the sufferings of people in Latin America. The two liberationists who were involved directly were Paulo Freire, the consciousness-raising liberationist from Brazil, and Oscar Romero, the liberationist, Roman Catholic archbishop of El Salvador. The third individual was Thomas Merton. Merton was indirectly associated with Latin American liberationist praxis through his encouragement of Ernesto Cardenal, the poet-revolutionary priest who became part of the Sandinista (FSLN) government that controlled Nicaragua from 1979 until 1990. It is in the analysis of these three individuals where this text offers the greatest contribution to the rhetorical analysis of Latin American discourse.

This book is divided into five chapters and an afterword. Chapter one gives an overview of the key terms of this text: rhetoric, postmoderns versus liberationists, pain, imagination, and the religious. Each of the subsequent chapters then examines how the ideas of pain, imagination, and the religious are understood in/ through the particular author. Chapter two examines Kenneth Burke, chapter three assesses Thomas Merton, chapter four analyzes Paulo Freire and chapter five scrutinizes Oscar Romero. Each of these chapters...