ABSTRACT
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.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
section 1|40 pages
Classical Egyptian Origins of African American Rhetoric
section 2|42 pages
Manifestations of African American Rhetoric and Orality
chapter 5|14 pages
The Use of Public Space as Cultural Communicator
section 3|47 pages
Politics of Defining African American Rhetoric
chapter 6|13 pages
The Word at Work
chapter 7|15 pages
The Politics of (In)visibility in African American Rhetorical Scholarship
section 4|75 pages
African American Rhetorical Analyses of Struggle and Resistance
chapter 10|16 pages
Every Man Fights for His Freedom
chapter 11|15 pages
“The Duty of the Civilized Is to Civilize the Uncivilized”
chapter 12|19 pages
Death Narratives from the Killing Fields
section 5|76 pages
Trends and Innovations in Analyzing Contemporary African American Rhetori
chapter 14|21 pages
The Kink Factor
chapter 16|20 pages
Afrocentric Rhetoric Transcending Audiences and Contexts
section 6|25 pages
Visions for Research in African American Rhetoric