Ambiguous Eloquence: Asignification as Rhetorical Resistance

This article explores the relationship between eloquence and ambiguity as well as how the ambiguous nature of eloquence in Cicero manifests in our contemporary moment. Eloquence in Cicero remains elusive, developing ambiguous qualities as political circumstances shift, leading Cicero in Orator to conceptualize an “abstract eloquence, which we can only behold with the mind’s eye.” The relationship between ambiguity and eloquence, however, declines as the term eloquence is limited to definitions that aim toward clarity rather than abstraction. Drawing on John Muckelbauer’s concept of asignification, the article argues for renewed attention to the relationship between ambiguity and eloquence through reimagining eloquence as the deployment of strategic ambiguity. To do so, this article analyze how an asignifying approach to eloquence—one focused primarily on force—manifests in the cute winter boots trend that began circulating on the popular social media platform TikTok in early 2025. This contemporary expression draws on the ambiguous features of eloquence in order to resist algorithmic suppression through the deployment of strategic ambiguity toward definitional and algorithmic rupture.