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Understanding African American Rhetoric: Classical Origins to Contemporary Innovations book cover

1st Edition

Understanding African American Rhetoric Classical Origins to Contemporary Innovations

Edited By Ronald L. Jackson II, Elaine B. Richardson Copyright 2003
    346 Pages
    by Routledge

    346 Pages
    by Routledge
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    This is an extraordinarily well-balanced collection of essays focused on varied expressions of African American Rhetoric; it also is a critical antidote to a preoccupation with Western Rhetoric as the arbiter of what counts for effective rhetoric. Rather than impose Western terminology on African and African American rhetoric, the essays in this volume seek to illumine rhetoric from within its own cultural expression, thereby creating an understanding grounded in the culture's values. The consequence is a richly detailed and well-researched set of essays. The contribution of African American rhetoric can no longer be rendered invisible through neglect of its tradition.

    The essays in this volume neither seek to displace Western Rhetoric, nor function as an uncritical paen to Afrocentricity and Africology. This volume is both timely and essential; timely in advancing a better understanding of the richly textured history that is expressed through African American discourse, and essential as a counterpoint to the hegemonic influence of Greek and Roman rhetoric as the origin of rhetorical theory and practice.

    Written in the spirit of a critical rhetoric, this collection eschews traditional focus on public address and instead offers a rich array of texts, in musical and other forms, that address publics.

    Introduction, Ronald L. Jackson, Elaine B. Richardson; Classical Egyptian Origins of African American Rhetoric; Chapter 1 Nommo, Kawaida, and Communicative Practice, Maulana Karenga; Chapter 2 The Spiritual Essence of African American Rhetoric, Adisa A. Alkebulan; Manifestations of African American Rhetoric and Orality; Chapter 3 African American Orality, Thurmon Garner, Carolyn Calloway-Thomas; Chapter 4 “Jesus Is a Rock”, Melbourne S. Cummings, Judi Moore Latta; Chapter 5 The Use of Public Space as Cultural Communicator, Deborah F. Atwater, Sandra L. Herndon; Politics of Defining African American Rhetoric; Chapter 6 The Word at Work, Richard L. Wright; Chapter 7 The Politics of (In)visibility in African American Rhetorical Scholarship, Mark Lawrence McPhail; Chapter 8 Afrocentricity as Metatheory, Ronald L. Jackson II; African American Rhetorical Analyses of Struggle and Resistance; Chapter 9 Africological Theory and Criticism, Jeffrey Lynn Woodyard; Chapter 10 Every Man Fights for His Freedom, Ella Forbes; Chapter 11 “The Duty of the Civilized Is to Civilize the Uncivilized”, Felicia M. Miyakawa; Chapter 12 Death Narratives from the Killing Fields, Carlos D. Morrison; Trends and Innovations in Analyzing Contemporary African American Rhetori; Chapter 13 Lauryn Hill as Lyricist and Womanist, Celnisha L. Dangerfield; Chapter 14 The Kink Factor, Regina E. Spellers; Chapter 15 An Afrocentric Rhetorical Analysis of Johnnie Cochran’s Closing Argument in the O.J. Simpson Trial, Felicia R. Walker; Chapter 16 Afrocentric Rhetoric Transcending Audiences and Contexts, Shauntae Brown-White; Visions for Research in African American Rhetoric; Chapter 17 The Future of African American Rhetoric, Molefi Kete Asante; Chapter 18 The Discourse of African American Women, Dorthy L. Pennington;

    Biography

    Ronald L. Jackson II is Associate Professor of Culture and Communication Theory at Pennsylvania State University. He is the author of The Negotiation of Cultural Identity (1999). Elaine B. Richardson is Assistant Professor of English and by courtesy, Applied Linguistics at Pennsylvania State University. She is the author of African-American Literacies (Routledge, 2002).

    "Understanding African American Rhetoric is the most comprehensive, scholarly, methodologically sound presentation of African American rhetoric to date! Given the many leading intellectuals who wrote chapters, this book is essential reading for both scholars and practitioners. It is likely to become a canonical text." -- Jack L. Daniel, co-author, with Omari C. Daniel, of We Fish: The Journey to Fatherhood
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