Kjeldsen, Jens

Jens E. Kjeldsen is Professor of rhetoric at Södertörn University (Stockholm, Sweden). He is also Professor of rhetoric and visual communication at Department of Information Science and Media Studies, University of Bergen (Norway), where he has worked as deputy head of department and board member for The Faculty of Social Sciences.

His main interest is visual rhetoric and argumentation, political speechmaking and speechwriting, rhetoric in public communication, and the teaching of writing. He also works on rhetorical theory, especially in relation to media and to the changing of rhetorical situations and circumstances in an increasingly fragmented, complex and mediated world.

He is presently working on a series of texts on visual rhetoric and argumentation, and he is the project leader of the research project Presentation Practices. Using surveys, qualitative interviews and analysis of videotaped lectures the project studies the rhetoric and pedagogy in teaching using digital presentation tools such as PowerPoint.

In 2002 Kjeldsen defended his doctorate thesis on visual rhetoric at the University of Bergen. In 1996/97 he was one of three founders of Rhetorica Scandinavica, the journal of Scandinavian research in rhetoric. For many years he served as chief editor of the journal.

He is the initiator and president of the organization Rhetoric Society of Europe (RSE),

Publications (selection)

                Books (selection)

Ed. Scandinavian Studies in Rhetoric. Rhetorica Scandinavica 1997-2010 (with Jan Grue). Retorikforlaget, Ödåkra 2011 (forthcoming)

Tale med billeder – tegne med ord [Speaking with pictures, drawing with words]. Spartacus forlag, Oslo 2011 (242 pages).

Retorik idag. [Rhetoric Today] 2008, Studentlitteratur, Stockholm. 394 pages.

Vår tids retorikk. En innføring i moderne retorisk teori (ny og utvidet utgave) [Rhetoric of our times. An introduction to contemporary rhetorical theory. New and revised Edition] Oslo 2006 (2004), Spartacus forlag (399 pages).

Virksomme ord. Politiske taler 1814–2005 (with Anders Johansen) [Words that Work. Political Speeches 1814-2005]. Universitetsforlaget, Oslo 2005 (707 pages).

Ed. Krig, rett, retorikk. (with Siri Meyer) [War, Law and Rhetoric]. Rhetor förlag, Åstorp 2004 (174 pages).

 Visuel retorik. [Visual Rhetoric]. Department of media studies, University of Bergen 2002 (466 pages + appendix).

                Articles (selection of refereed and edited articles)

"Scandinavian research in rhetoric. Challenges of the media society to two demarcations of the study of rhetoric", Scandinavian Studies in Rhetoric. Rhetorica Scandinavica 1997-2010. Retorikforlaget, Ödåkra 2011 (forthcoming)

"Visual argumentation in an Al Gore Keynote presentation on climate change", pp. 1-13 in Zenker, F. (ed.). Argumentation: Cognition and Community. Proceedings of the 9th International Conference of the Ontario Society for the Study of Argumentation (OSSA), May 18-21, 2011. Windsor, ON (CD ROM).

"Bilder og tekstbilder i foredrag og forelesning" [Pictures and image-texts in talks and lectures"], pp. 236-289 in (eds.) A. Skodvin, K. H. Flyum, G. Knudsen & E. Simonsen Forelesningens kunst. Unipub forlag 2011.

"Visual tropes and figures as visual argumentation", pp. 949-960 in F. H. van Eemeren et al Proceedings of the 7th Conference of the International Society for the Study of Argumentation. Rozenberg Publishers 2011.

"Nonverbal communication as argumentation" (with Marie Gelang). pp. 567-576 in (eds.) F. H. van Eemeren et al Proceedings of the 7th Conference of the International Society for the Study of Argumentation. Rozenberg Publishers 2011.

"Retorisk genreanalyse" ["Rhetorical genre criticism"], pp. 85-114 in (Eds.) Hanne Roer og Marie Lund Klujeff Retorikkens aktualitet. Grundbog i retorisk kritik [The Actuality of Rhetoric. Introduction to rhetorical criticism]

"Visualizing egalitarianism – political print ads in Denmark", pp. 139-160 in (eds.) J. Strömbäck, T. Aalberg & M. Ørsten (red): Political Communication in the Nordic Countries. Nordicom, 2008.

"Retoriske omstændigheder. Den retoriske situation og det retoriske studie i en kompleks, omskiftelig og medieret verden" ["Rhetorical circumstances."], pp. 42-63 in Rhetorica Scandinavica no. 48, 2008.

"Visual Argumentation in Scandinavian Political Advertising: A Cognitive, Contextual, and Reception Oriented Approach", pp. 124-132 in Argumentation & Advocacy, Volume 43, Numbers 3 & 4 / Winter and Spring 2007.

"Øjets frygt og ærefrygt" [Fear and Awe of the Eye. On the Encomium of Helen and the Aversion to Rhetoric and Visual Appeals"], in: Rhetorica Scandinavica no. 41, 2007.

"The Rhetoric of PowerPoint". In Seminar.net Media, Technology & Lifelong learning. Vol. 2 - Issue 1 2006. See: http://seminar.net/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=59&Item id=1

"Tilbakemelding på tekst" [Feedback response on academic writing], pp. 162-182 in (eds.) Olaga dysthe og Akylina Samara  Forskningsveiledning på master- og doktorgradsnivå [Research counselling on the master and bachelor levels]. Oslo: Abstrakt forlag.

"11. septembers visuelle retorik" [The Visual Rhetoric of 9/11], pp. 50-69 in Rhetorica Scandinavica no 29/30, 2004.

"Talking to the Eye – Visuality in Ancient Rhetoric", pp. 133-137 in Word & Image vol. 19, nr. 3, 2003.

"Skandinavisk retorikvidenskab. Mediesamfundets udfordringer til to afgrænsninger af retorikken som videnskab og fag" [Scandinavian Research in Rhetoric. Challenges of the Media Society to two delimitations of Rhetoric as a Field of Study], in: Rhetorica Scandinavica, no. 20, 2001.

"What the Metaphor could not tell us about the Prime Minister's Bycycle Helmet. Rhetorical Criticism of Visual Rhetoric", in: Nordicom Review no. 21, 2000.

"The study of rhetoric in the Scandinavian countries", Scandinavian Studies in Rhetoric. Rhetorica Scandinavica 1997-2010 (with Jan Grue). Retorikforlaget, Ödåkra 2011 (forthcoming).