The Irrefutable Rhetor

Abstract

Can religious texts be read rhetorically? Or are these texts immutable archetypes that prevent rhetorical interpretations? I would like to argue that like other living texts, rhetorical readings of religious texts facilitate not only uninhibited dialogues but also foster new knowledge through disagreements and adaptations. Following this, I read the Bhagavad Gita as an instance of a religious text that has been exposed to both conservative and pluralistic interpretations. Most readers of the Gita contend with its philosophical content but rarely with its argumentative form. My interests lie in accentuating the contradictions within this form and revealing how the symbolic order of the text is activated through a series of antinomies. They will, I believe, unveil multiple rhetorical transformations the text has encountered and sustained, and enable similar persuasive transgressions hereafter.