micro- and macro-pragmatics: the interface between rhetoric, pragmatics, and critical discourse analysis

Presuming two major interrelated and at the same time distinct perspectives on pragmatics, the current paper seeks to delineate the similarities and differences of dialectic versus dialogic pragmatics. it begins with a brief and informative overview of rhetoric and claims that rhetoric is essentially a kind of pragmatics where a rhetor carries dialectic into oration to challenge, sway, persuade, or defeat an adversary through elocution. it then moves on to a brief overview of dialogic pragmatics and argues that it builds on a cooperative dyad where the interlocutors work in tandem to co-create a dialogue. assuming an inclusional distribution between the two, the paper concludes that dialectic pragmatics is essentially concerned with one form of intentionality and can therefore be called micro-pragmatics whereas dialogic pragmatics encompasses all forms of intentionality including that of rhetoric, and that it can therefore be called macro-pragmatics.