Feminist Rhetorical Practices: New Horizons for Rhetoric, Composition, and Literacy Studies

✍ Scribed by Jacqueline Jones Royster, Gesa E. Kirsch

• Publisher: Southern Illinois University Press
• Year: 2012
• Tongue: English
• Leaves: 201
• Category: Library

✦ Synopsis

From two leading scholars in the field comes this landmark assessment of the shifting terrain of feminist rhetorical practices in recent decades. Jacqueline Jones Royster and Gesa E. Kirsch contend the field of rhetorical studies is being transformed through the work of feminist rhetoricians who have brought about notable changes in who the subjects of rhetorical study can be, how their practices can be critiqued, and how the effectiveness and value of the inquiry frameworks can be articulated.

To contextualize a new and changed landscape for narratives in the history of rhetoric, Royster and Kirsch present four critical terms of engagement—critical imagination, strategic contemplation, social circulation, and globalization—as the foundation for a new analytical model for understanding, interpreting, and evaluating feminist rhetorical inquiry and the study and teaching of rhetoric in general. This model draws directly on the wealth of knowledge and understanding gained from feminist rhetorical practices, especially sensitivity toward meaningfully and respectfully rendering the work, lives, cultures, and traditions of historical and contemporary women in rhetorical scholarship.

Proposing ambitious new standards for viewing and valuing excellence in feminist rhetorical practice, Royster and Kirsch advocate an ethos of respect and humility in the analysis of communities and specific rhetorical performances neglected in rhetorical history, recasting rhetorical studies as a global phenomenon rather than a western one. They also reflect on their own personal and professional development as researchers as they highlight innovative feminist research over the past thirty years to articulate how feminist work is changing the field and pointing to the active participation of women in various discourse arenas and to the practices and genres they use.

Valuable to new and established scholars of rhetoric, Feminist Rhetorical Practice: New Horizons for Rhetoric, Composition, and Literacy Studies is essential for understanding the theoretical, methodological, and ethical impacts of feminist rhetorical studies on the wider field.

Winner, 2014 Winifred Bryan Horner Outstanding Book Award

✦ Table of Contents

Book Title
Copyright
Contents
Foreword
Acknowledgments
Part One: A Call for Action in Research, Teaching, and Learning
1. Our Own Stories of Professional Identity
2. Documenting a Need for Change in Rhetorical Studies
Part Two: Re-visioning History, Theory, and Practice
3. Tectonic Shifts in Rhetorical Practices
4. Feminist Rhetorical Studies as a Robust Interdisciplinary Framework
Part Three: Recasting Paradigms for Inquiry, Analysis, and Interpretation
5. Critical Imagination
6. Strategic Contemplation
7. Social Circulation
8. Globalizing the Point of View
Part Four: Conclusion
9. Charting a New Course for Research and Practice
Notes
Works Cited
Index
Authors Bios
Studies In Rhetorics And Feminisms
Other Books in the Studies in Rhetorics and Feminisms Series
Back Cover