Rhetoric, polemic and literary criticism in José Martí

Abstract

Although there are studies establishing the impact that rhetoric establishes on José Martí's speeches, the purpose of this article is to show how such resources are also present in other writings, seemingly distant from oratory, as those of literary criticism –about José María Heredia in this cases– when it is exercised in polemic opposition to what others have expressed and so reveal the role of Rhetoric in possible discursive strategies of the Cuban national hero and renowned Spanish American man of letters, with a view to offering a better understanding of his ideas and work, as well as giving an idea of the possibilities of the rhetorical analysis applied not only to speeches.