1. We can trace unities in historical discourse. This lets us see moments of change. Together these moments make up a map of transformation and stability.
2. For Foucault, statements are sets of signifiers that are considered to represent knowledge. Statements facilitate relationships between individuals and groups, and we use them to perform the self. These functions only work through the relationships between statements.
3. When statements are uttered, they tell us something about the epistemological assumptions in a culture. There are three parts to studying statements:
A. Rarity -- Look at what is not being said and what is being silenced as well.
B. Exteriority -- Don't look for the hidden meaning. Look for the context that allows the statement to exist.
C. Accumulation -- Look for how statements come in and out of the culture.
4. Rhetorical studies includes history, politics, and epistemology. Blair (1987) argues that Foucault's concept of the statement allows us to integrate all of these elements.
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