Approaches to
African American
Rhetorical Theory

Some of the many difficulties

• Essentialist views are wrong:
  • Diverse groups under differing conditions.
• Oppression:
  • Colonialism, slavery, and racism are against human status suppress history/traditions.
• Hegemony of the Western tradition:
  • White models find non-whites "wanting."

Some Key African/African American Rhetorical Considerations

• Harmony and Unity
  • the divine spirit is found in community.
• Spiritual powers in individual actions.
  • power and wisdom come to individuals who will then aid the community.
• Nommo
  • the lived power of the spoken word. Speech is more a transmission of centered life than of "parts" of speech.

Some Key Rhetorical Behaviors

• Invention as "calling into existence, recognizable patterns."
  • the rhetor must then organize and style the materials creatively.
  • Style must respond to images which connect with the audience.
• Delivery is collaborative.

Needed Steps

• Inclusion
  • Find great speakers/speeches.
  • Do ethnography of speaking across different groups.

Especially be sensitive to co-group differences---this work could be turned (and maybe being turned) against the very group it claims to study.

• Revision
  • Solidify understanding of black philosophy.
  • Discover principle sets that are exclusive to co-groups.
  • Discover principle sets that generalize across co-groups.

  Approaches to
  Asian Rhetorical Theory

  Some of the many difficulties

  • Essentialist views are wrong:
    • Diverse groups under differing conditions.
  • Hegemony of the Western tradition:
    • White models find non-whites "wanting."
  • Translation is a HUGE difficulty.
    • We've depended on problematic translations and textual interpretations.

  Some More Challenges for Understanding Asian

  • Tied to philosophy and metaphysics; rhetoric is sometimes missed due to its tight relation with Eastern religions.
  • Operates in high context culture: verbal is not always foregrounded.
  • Operates in hierarchical (deference-relevant) yet group-oriented society.
  • Depends on Eastern ways of minding which do not always seem "rhetorical" to Westerners.

  Some Key Asian Rhetorical Considerations

  • Bian

  fluid senses about speech and argument using reason and evidence to express opinions, show weaknesses in other's argument, and to achieve correct view and mutual understanding.

  • Ming
    • logos, esp. logic and order.
  • Wen
    • all polished literature should have sermonic outcome.
  • Authority
    • perhaps the most ubiquitous form of argument: from the architype case/quotation/text/master.

  Needed Steps

  • Inclusion
    • Find great speakers/speeches.
    • Do ethnography of speaking across different groups.
    • Get better translations.

  Needed steps

  • Revision
    • take philosophy more seriously with regard to its role in rhetoric.
    • build a non-Western model for judgment.
    • build better rhetorical model for non-discursive forms.

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