Inleiding. Karaktermoord is een tijdloos wapen

Introduction. Character assassination, a timeless weapon assassination is the deliberate destruction of an individual’s reputation or credibility. While term itself relatively new, practices it describes can be found in virtually all cultures and historical epochs. Despite their great variety, character attacks share five common aspects pillars: they involve attacker, target, medium, audience take place particular cultural, political technological context. In recent times there has been surge scholarship on from range academic disciplines, including science, rhetoric communication studies. This thematic issue will explore dimensions challenges opportunities that come with it. It focus role various media – ranging Roman histories medieval chronicles to nineteenth-century cartoons have played shaping throughout ages.