ABSTRACT
This chapter uses comparative, rhetorical feminist, and transnational frameworks to explore the unique female rhetoric represented by the female only language nüshu in Lisa See’s novel Snow Flower and the Secret Fan and its motion picture adaptation. The historical development of nüshu as a coded language represents the empowerment, literacy, and storytelling of Chinese women in its historical context, and Lisa See, the author, together with Nina Wei, the contemporary heroine in the motion picture, are epitomes of the transnational feminist phenomenon. Texts, visual, and sonic rhetoric materials in nüshu are great resources for composition instructors to teach comparative, feminist, transnational, and indigenous rhetoric. As a historical representation of third-world, women of color feminism, nüshu tradition unfolds rich sonic, visual, and textual literacies that is exemplary for both women of color and all women. Similar to Anzaldúa’s rhetorical strategy of disidentification in her letter to third world women, nüshu is a rhetorical space that Jiangyong feminists invented for themselves. Key terms in Snow Flower and the Secret Fan such as “nüshu,” “laotong,” and “tengai” represent the rhetorical feminism in historical context and therefore pedagogical connections can help cultivate students’ compassion, empathy, and their awareness of non-Western rhetorical traditions and situations, and critical thinking about how different rhetorical traditions influence contemporary practices.
