Paradigm hunting: architectural and argumentational decorum in Marvin Trachtenberg’s research

Abstract

The author explores the methodology of a selection of Marvin Trachtenberg’s publications on medieval and Renaissance architecture. Particular attention is given to his distinctive use of both paradigm theory and what the author identifies as paradigm inversion or reversal, a characteristically bold strategy of argumentation in Trachtenberg’s work, but one nevertheless carefully controlled in its rhetorical presentation. Trachtenberg’s argumentational language and terminology are examined, and his probable sources identified. His constant reworking of interpretations of buildings he has previously studied and the successive modifications of his methodology and its means of persuasion are pursued through close analysis of his texts. The author introduces aspects of current ‘politeness theory’ to emphasise and theorize Trachtenberg’s blending of both disciplinary caution and a transgressive approach to paradigm-shifting, entailing ‘seduction’ of the reader.

Keywords

• Paradigm-shift
• decorum
• politeness
• ekphrasis
• Gothic
• modernism
• historicism