American Indian Rhetorics of Survivance: Word Medicine, Word Magic

by Ernest Stromberg

Overview

American Indian Rhetorics of Survivance presents an original critical and theoretical analysis of American Indian rhetorical practices in both canonical and previously overlooked texts: autobiographies, memoirs, prophecies, and oral storytelling traditions. Ernest Stromberg assembles essays from a range of academic disciplines that investigate the rhetorical strategies of Native American orators, writers, activists, leaders, and intellectuals.

The contributors consider rhetoric in broad terms, ranging from Aristotle's definition of rhetoric as "the faculty . . . of discovering in the particular case what are the available means of persuasion," to the ways in which Native Americans assimilated and revised Western rhetorical concepts and language to form their own discourse with European and American colonists. They relate the power and use of rhetoric in treaty negotiations, written accounts of historic conflicts and events, and ongoing relations between American Indian governments and the United States.

This is a groundbreaking collection for readers interested in Native American issues and the study of language. In presenting an examination of past and present Native American rhetoric, it emphasizes the need for an improved understanding of multicultural perspectives.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780822959250
Publisher:	University of Pittsburgh Press
Publication date:	07/15/2006
Series:	Composition, Literacy, and Culture
Edition description:	1
Pages:	296
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.90(d)

About the Author

Ernest Stromberg is associate professor in the Department of English, Communication, and Journalism at California State University, Monterey Bay.

Editorial Reviews

"A good collection for those interested in the relationship pf Indigenous rhetoric in North America and Western rhetoric."
--Rhetoric Review

"With their bold and original interpretations, the essays in this volume evoke an awareness of rhetoric in the full range of how that term can be understood from a Native American perspective. At the same time, they testify that through the skilled use of language, North America's tribal peoples have managed to resist and even overcome the effects of Anglo-European hegemony long after warfare ceased to be an option."
--Paul Zolbrod, Emeritus Professor of English, Allegheny College

"Stromberg and the other contributors have provided excellent material upon which other scholars of Native rhetoric can build."
--jac

From the Publisher