Toward a Rhetoric of Body as Space
Toward a Rhetoric of Body as Space
Peitho Volume 21 Issue 2 Spring 2019
Author(s): Kelly A. Moreland
Abstract: This article introduces a rhetoric of body as space that exemplifies historical-cultural embodiment, rhetorical embodiment, and physical embodiment as points of analysis. To illustrate the theory the author constructs Precious, the protagonist of Sapphire’s novel Push, as a rhetorical space, employing Roxanne Mountford’s notion of rhetorical space as a springboard. Bringing in additional theories of embodiment, disability, and trauma, the article proposes that the rhetorical space of Precious’ body affects her (in)ability to achieve self-acceptance by the story’s end. The example application suggests that a theory of body as space allows for further exploration into embodied rhetoric as feminist rhetorical practice.
Tags: embodiment, feminism and rhetoric, material rhetoric, rhetorical theory, space
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