Third Persona - Theories of Power

Theories of Power

The concept of third persona is considered within the larger discussion of "rhetorical criticism" regarding speech communication, and also within the literature of the "ideological turn." Within rhetorical practice, critical rhetoric, ideological turn, and third persona are related to theories of power within social discourse and politics. In terms of power, the third persona is the audience ignored through discourse, or, as Wander writes, it is an implied rhetorical denouncement of an "unacceptable, undesirable, insignificant" audience.

Using rhetoric the critic wields power in a role as "the interpreter, the teacher, the social actor," the critiques of whom direct moral order within society. The third persona would be those whom these critiques disempower and silence through latent dismissal.