Public memory and the contemporary epideictic genre: Death notices devoted to Jorge R. Videla

Abstract

The article draws on contributions from the old and new rhetoric to explore the relationship between the epideictic genre and the construction of public memory. It analyzes the death notices dedicated to the former dictator and their controversial relationship with a hegemonic memory that condemns Argentina's last military dictatorship of the twentieth century. To this end, it explores what the author call rhetorical-argumentative memory, that is, the recycling and reformulation of previously used persuasive strategies in a new situation.