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Jens Elmelund Kjeldsen
Photo: Tove K. Breistein

Jens Elmelund Kjeldsen

Position

Professor

Affiliation

E-mail
jens.kjeldsen@uib.no
Phone number
+47 55589127
Visitor address
Fosswinckels gate 6
5007 Bergen
Room: 617
Postal address
P.O. Box 7802
NO-5020 Bergen
Norway

Jens Elmelund Kjeldsen

Position

Professor

Affiliation

Research groups

Research

Jens E. Kjeldsen is Professor of rhetoric and visual communication at Department of Information Science and Media Studies, University of Bergen (Norway), where he has worked as deputy head of department and board member for The Faculty of Social Sciences. He has also worked as Professor of rhetoric at Södertörn University (Stockholm, Sweden) and been a visiting scholar at University of California, Berkeley, and Northwestern University (Evanston/Chicago)

He is the initiator and immediate past president of the organization Rhetoric Society of Europe (RSE), and the co-founder and long time chief editor of the journal Rhetorica Scandinavica

His main interest is visual rhetoric and argumentation, political speechmaking and speechwriting, rhetoric in public communication. He also works on rhetorical audience studies and rhetorical theory, especially in relation to media and to the changing of rhetorical situations and circumstances in an increasingly fragmented, complex and mediated world.

He is presently working on projects dealing with the rhetoric of the immigration debate; political television debates; everyday rhetoric and rhetorical working through; and credibility, trust, and ethos in a hybrid media ecology. He is leader of the working package "Media analysis" in the project Pandemic rhetoric, which studies the rhetoric, risk communication and constitution of credibility and trust in the COVID-19 pandemic.

Kjeldsen is also project leader of the project Derekrit, studying the teaching of speechmaking and rhetorical citizenship in public high schools.


 

Outreach

 

As a researcher, Kjeldsen has carried out extensive public communication both nationally and internationally. He has been featured well over 1,000 times in Norwegian news media, and has given more than 20 public outreach lectures in 2025 alone.

Kjeldsen prioritizes a much broader and more creative practice of public communication than media participation alone. This includes producing videos, giving interactive lectures, and training thousands of students and teachers in Norwegian schools. He has written and performed a mini-performance with music about the music in rhetoric and the rhetoric in music (with Kristian Wedberg). He has developed the website www.virksommeord.no, which is visited every day by ordinary people, teachers, school pupils, and researchers. He established the awards “Speech of the Year in Norway” (2022–) and Ta ordet! (2016–), a national speech competition for upper secondary school students (www.taordet.no), that reaches thousands of students and teachers every year. He has served as master of ceremonies at most of the national finals since 2016, as well as at the event Nordisk talefest.

In addition, Kjeldsen is an internationally award-winning speaker who has won the Meltzer Prize for outstanding research communication (2026), the Grand Award in the Cicero Speechwriting Awards in 2023 (the international award for the world’s best speech), as well as the Faculty of Social Sciences’ Communication Award (UiB, 2019). He is also recognized as a merited outstanding educator (2017, UiB), and has repeatedly won the Course of the Year award at the Department of Information Science and Media Studies. He expressed his view of research communication in this opinion piece in Khrono: “Communication to the people — where the people are.” (see Formidling til folket – der folket er). During several Norwegian election campaigns, he has been part of the expert group for election coverage appointed by the Communications Division at the University of Bergen.

Kjeldsen’s public communication is not limited to Norway. He has also carried out public outreach in, among other places, China, Italy, England, Denmark, Sweden, the United States, and the European Parliament in Brussels.

Publications

Academic article

Academic book chapter

Academic monograph

Book anthology

Conference lecture

Lecture

Media interview

Moving image/film

Non-fiction book chapter

Other presentation

Podcast

Popular science article

Radio or TV participation

Textbook

See a complete overview of publications in NVA.

See publications in ResearchGate:

https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Jens-Kjeldsen-2/publications 

 

Selected publications: 1) Articles and papers, 2) Books/special issues

     Articles and papers

2021. The other other. Representations and rhetorical estrangement of anti-immigration positions in Scandinavian print media, 1970 – 2016 (with Anniken Hagelund)). Poetics 2021

2021. Eager to be in touch with the world: The Practice and Study of Rhetoric in Scandinavia. The Southern Communication Journal, 2021 s. 1-12

2019. Royal Interventions in the Public Discourse on Immigration: Rhetorical Topoi on Immigration in the New Year's Speeches of the Scandinavian Monarchs. Javnost - The Public 2019 ;Volum 26.(2) s. 225-240

2018. Visual and Multimodal Rhetoric and Argumentation in Organizations and Organizational Theory. In: Handbook of organizational rhetoric and communication. Wiley-Blackwell 2018 ISBN 978-1-119-26577-1. s. 359-372

2017. The rhetorical and argumentative potentials of press photography. In: Multimodal Argumentation and Rhetoric in Media Genres (Ed. Tseronis, Assimakis; Forceville, Charles). John Benjamins Publishing Company 2017 ISBN 9789027211316. s. 51-79

2017. Visual rhetorical argumentation. Semiotica: Journal of the International Association for Semiotic Studies 2017; Volum (220) s. 69-94

2015. The study of visual and multimodal argumentation. Argumentation : an international journal on reasoning. 29: 115-132. doi: 10.1007/s10503-015-9348-4

2015. The Rhetoric of Thick Representation: How Pictures Render the Importance and Strength of an Argument Salient. Argumentation : an international journal on reasoning. 29: 197-215. doi: 10.1007/s10503-014-9342-2

2015. Where Is Visual Argument? Chapter 8, sider 107-117. I Eemeren, Frans H. van; Garssen, Bart. 2015. Reflections on Theoretical Issues in Argumentation Theory. Springer. ISBN:

2014. Reconceptualizing kairos. Chapter 28, sider 249-258. I Emilsson, Eyjólfur Kjalar; Maravela, Anastasia; Skoie, Mathilde. 2014. PARADEIGMATA. Studies in Honour of Øivind Andersen. 308 sider. ISBN: 978-960-85145-4-6.

2013. Formulas of Prize Winning Press Photos. Chapter 24, sider 461-486. I van Belle, Hilde. 2013. Verbal and Visual Rhetoric in a Media World. 505 sider. ISBN: 978 90 8728 190 8.

2013. Speaking to Europe. A Rhetorical approach to Prime Minister Tony Blair’s speech to the EU Parliament. Chapter 1, sider 19-42. I Fløttum, Kjersti. 2013. Speaking of Europe. Approaches to complexity in European political discourse. John Benjamins Publishing Company. 191 sider. ISBN: 978-90-272-0640-4.

2013. Strategies of visual argumentation in slideshow presentations: the role of the visuals in an Al Gore presentation on climate change. Argumentation : an international journal on reasoning. 27: 425-443. doi: 10.1007/s10503-013-9296-9.

2012. Pictorial Argumentation in Advertising: Visual tropes and Figures as a Way of Creating Visual Argumentation. Chapter 16, sider 239-256. I Eemeren, Frans H. van; Garssen, Bart. 2012. Topical Themes in Argumentation Theory. Twenty Exploratory Studies. Springer. 346 sider. ISBN: 9789400740402.

2012. The Study of Rhetoric in the Scandinavian Countries (med Jan Grue). Kapittel, side 7-38. I: Kjeldsen, Jens Elmelund; Grue, Jan. 2012. Scandinavian Studies in ­Rhetoric. Rhetorica Scandinavica 1997-2010. Retorikförlaget.

2007. Visual Argumentation in Scandinavian Political Advertising: A Cognitive, Contextual, and Reception Oriented Approach. Argumentation and Advocacy. 43: 124-132.

2003. Talking to the eye: visuality in ancient rhetoric. Word and Image. 19: 133-137.

 

     Books/special issues

2019. Speechwriting in theory and practice (with Amos Kiewe, Marie Lund, Jette Barnholdt Hansen). PalgraveMacMillan.

2018. (Ed.) Rhetorical Audiences. Reception- and audience studies of rhetoric. PalgraveMacMillan.

2015. Visual and multimodal argumentation. Special issue of the journal Argumentation (vol. 29, no. 2). 242 pages.

2014. hva er retorikk [what is rhetoric]. Universitetsforlaget. Oslo.

2012. Scandinavian Studies in ­Rhetoric. Rhetorica Scandinavica 1997-2010 (with Jan Grue). Retorikförlaget. 368 pages.

2011. Tale med billeder – tegne med ord [Speaking with pictures, drawing with words]. Spartacus forlag, Oslo 2011. 241 pages.

2008. Retorik idag. [Rhetoric Today]. Studentlitteratur, Stockholm. 394 pages.

2006. Retorikk i vår tid. En innføring i moderne retorisk teori (ny og utvidet utgave) [Rhetoric of our times. An introduction to contemporary rhetorical theory. New and revised Edition] Oslo. Spartacus forlag. 399 pages.

2005. Virksomme ord. Politiske taler 1814–2005 (with Anders Johansen) [Words that Work. Political Speeches 1814-2005]. Universitetsforlaget, Oslo 2005 (707 pages).Virksomme ord. Politiske taler 1814-2005. Sammen med professor Anders Johansen. Universitetsforlaget. 707 pages, and 36 pages introduction.

2004. Krig, rett, retorikk. (with Siri Meyer) [War, Law and Rhetoric]. Rhetor förlag, Åstorp. 175 pages.

2002. Visuel retorik. [Visual Rhetoric]. Department of media studies, University of Bergen. 466 pages + appendix.

Utvalte intervju og omtaler

Mannen som lytter ekstra godt til Trump (portrett i Bergens Tidende) (external link)

Dagens ledelse er retorisk og forhandlende (i Lederne) (external link)

Her drilles sjefene i å unngå de verste syndene (Vest24) (external link)