Battle Exhortation
The Rhetoric of Combat Leadership
Keith Yellin
In this groundbreaking examination of the symbolic strategies used to prepare troops
for imminent combat, Keith Yellin offers an interdisciplinary look into a mode of rhetorical discourse that has played a prominent role in warfare, history, and popular culture from antiquity to the present day. In Battle Exhortation he focuses on one of the
most time-honored forms of motivational communication, the encouraging speech of
military commanders, to offer a pragmatic and scholarly evaluation of how persuasion
contributes to combat leadership.
Yellin establishes battle exhortation as a distinct genre of discourse originating
from humankind’s war-prone history and the age-old need to inspire troops to fight.
In illustrating his subject’s conventions, Yellin draws from the Bible, classical Greece
and Rome, Spanish conquistadors, and especially American military forces. Yellin is
also interested in how audiences are socialized to recognize and anticipate this type
of communication that precedes difficult team efforts. To account for this dimension
he probes examples as diverse as Shakespeare’s Henry V, George C. Scott’s portrayal of
General George S. Patton, and team sports.
Yellin also examines the constraints that shape battle exhortation, including the
specific circumstances of a given war, the combat arm of the audience, the presence of
nonmilitary observers, and the personal character and style of the speaker. Speculating
on the future of battle exhortation while honoring its rich tradition, this work will be of
keen interest to students of communication, history, and military leadership.
A former U.S. Marine Corps captain,
Keith Yellin is an independent scholar
and corporate communicator in McKinney, Texas. He earned his B.A. in history
from the University of Maryland and
his M.A. and Ph.D. degrees in speech
communication from the University of
Iowa.
Studies in Rhetoric/Communication • Thomas W. Benson, series editor
June 2008, 200 pages
Method of payment:
_____ Check or money order: (payable to USC Press in United States dollars)
Credit Card: _____ Discover _____ Mastercard _____ Visa
Account number: _____________________________________ Exp. Date ________
Signature: ____________________________________________________________
Name (please print): ________________________________ Phone: ____________
Shipping Address: ______________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
Send me ______ copy/copies
(cl, 978-1-57003-735-1, $34.95 each) ______
SC residents add 6% sales tax ______
Shipping and Handling* ______
CODE AUFR
TOTAL ______
*add $6.00 for first book,
$2.00 for each additional book
718 Devine Street, Columbia, South Carolina 29208
800-768-2500 • Fax 800-868-0740 • www.sc.edu/uscpress