The paper examines the methodological transformation of rhetoric within narrative theory from the beginning of the 20th century to the present day. Initially, we will consider the structuralist critical-rational function of rhetoric in constructing narrative communication. The independence of the composition of narrative texts in the works of Russian formalists represents the primary starting point in the research of the act of narration itself, which will culminate in political and ethical effects of narration on empirical reality. In the second part, the starting point is the political theories of deconstruction that demonstrate the primacy of narration over the story, which will direct the research to the ethical judgment of the narrative message. Thus, in the post-structuralist phase, rhetoric becomes the basis of ideological-critical (meta)discourse with the aim of exposing subversive communication mechanisms that we recognize equally in text and speech. It is about regulatory strategies of persuading the Other and ambiguous figures as a discursive intermediate space of the turmoil of potentially subversive cultural, social, political and ideological determinants of the individual's final decision. In addition, the focus is largely on the (reading) audience, which, divided into active consumers (narrative audience) and value appraisers (authorial audience) of narrative material, constantly dynamizes the ambiguity of the narrative message. Thus, in the end, rhetorical figures are introduced in the analysis as the symbolic meaning of an ideologically loaded message that ceases to logically signal its transformation in narrative communication. In conclusion, the possibilities of understanding the thus shaped narrative message will be offered, as well as guidelines for the future methodological development of rhetoric in narrative theory and correlative research paradigms.