Definition and Examples of Apologia in Rhetoric

In classical rhetoric, communication studies, and public relations, an apologia is a speech that defends, justifies, and/or apologizes for an action or statement. Its plural form is also "apologia." The term is an adjective, meaning apologetic, and it is also known as a speech of self-defense. Apologia comes from the Greek words for "away from" and "speech."

Definition and Origin

Merriam-Webster notes that the term apologia was "popularized by (19th-century English theologian and poet) J. H. Newman in Apologia Pro Vita Sua, his defense of his conversion from Anglicanism to Roman Catholicism ... (and it is) an apology or formal defense of an idea, religion, etc." However, Aristotle used the term two millennia before Newman. In any event, since then, many public figures, including a former U.S. president and other executives, have used apologia to defend their transgressions and misdeeds.

Types of Apologia

In an article by the Quarterly Journal of Speech, linguists B.L. Ware and W.A. Linkugel identified four common strategies in apologetic discourse.

In other words, the offender starts by denying that they did what they did, tries to improve their own image, compares what they did (but claim they didn't do) to really egregious offenders, then gives the offense some type of context that would mitigate the transgression.

Purposes of Apologia in Rhetoric

Following are observations about apologia and examples of how individuals use the strategy to wiggle out of trouble.

"There may be several purposes for apologia rhetoric, including to explain the behavior or statement in a positive light, justify the behavior to minimize damage to image and character, or remove the topic from public discussion so that other issues may be discussed." — Colleen E. Kelley, "The Rhetoric of First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton: Crisis Management Discourse." Praeger, 2001.

Kelley explains apologia as a method of deflection and damage control. That is, the purpose of apologia in many contexts is to spin a negative behavior so that it is perceived more positively, deflect discussion of the issue, and get people talking about something else.

Apologia is a way of making an argument and ensuring that your point of view is accepted. It's a rhetorical device used to defend oneself and lessen the negative effects of an offense.

"Some genres are so complex and 'high stakes' that they require a special kind of rhetorical maneuvering and critical assessment. One such animal is what Aristotle called an apologia—or what we label today as the rhetoric of self-defense, damage-control, image-repair, or crisis management ... Its indebtedness to all three genres [deliberative, judicial, and epideictic], but its allegiance to none, makes the apologia a challenging rhetorical hybrid to create and critique." — Campbell & Huxman, 2003, pp. 293-294.

Uses in Context

It can be helpful to view apologia used in specific contexts, particularly in terms of how perceived offenders are expected to publicly flagellate themselves to show true remorse for their actions, whatever they may be.

Huxman explains that apologia is a kind of theater, one where the offender uses any rhetorical devices available to create a performance where they are the aggrieved party, even as they try to explain away their behavior.

Hayward used apologia for the Gulf Oil spill. Note how he turned the attention toward himself and made himself seem like a victim of the situation ("I want my life back."). This deflected the attention away from the millions of gallons of oil spilled into the gulf. This is an example of transcendence, where Hayward placed this issue in a different context: The key issue of the massive spill was not the environmental disaster that ensued but the disruption to his life as a busy CEO.

President Clinton's Apologia

Perhaps no example of an apologia was quite as public and memorable as the one former President Bill Clinton gave in the late 1990s.

Clinton's apologia related to what was known as the "Monica Lewinsky Affair." In this case, Clinton initially denied having a relationship with Lewinsky, but he later recanted when confronted with physical evidence Lewinsky presented of their relationship. In his apologia, Clinton initially denied the allegations, then tried to bolster his image (" ... at no time did I ask anyone to lie ... "). He then followed by comparing the accusations about the affair to the more egregious—in his view—investigation into his previous business dealings and finished with the strategy of transcendence (recrafting the context to say "it is past time to move on" from intrusive investigations and attempts to "pry" into his personal life).

You could say that in his statement, Clinton met all four strategies that Ware and Linkugel set forth as the required parts of a true apologia.