Weekly 7 Exploratory: Conceptual
Reconstruction of "Roots" or "Linkages"
Whether we are looking back or looking forward for the purposes of developing postmodern rhetorical theory, there is usually some type of legitimating involved in the definitions we encounter. This week, we will consider whether Campbell, Foss and Griffin, Hawhee, and Hart-Davidson et al advocate for exploring our “roots” or for making new “linkages” in developing their postmodern theories of feminist criticism, kairos, rhetorical invention, and democratic citizenship.
Please choose one (1) of the following tasks:
- propose (and describe how you might go about depicting) an art installation that is inherently “feminist”;
- propose (and describe how you might go about depicting) an archive that somehow reflects key topics or trends or moments in feminist rhetorical study (or on a related concept to feminist rhetorical study, such as style or invention or kairos or citizenship, etc.).
To accomplish either of these tasks, you may need to consider -- first -- their operational (re)definitions of any of those terms (e.g., feminist, invention, kairos, citizenship, etc.) in the context of rhetorical study. Because your installation or archive will need to reflect that term, you may also need to consider the complexities offered by its (re)definition to help you justify what you choose to create and why you want to create it the way that you do.
Then, feel free to interpret “installation” or “archive” as freely as necessary. For example, one could conceivably propose an art installation that is digitally dynamic, or build an archive using Pinterest. Or not. Here are some projects to examine that might inform your own (I provide them solely for reference or inspiration. You need not model your project after any of these):
- The Dinner Party -- Judy Chicago's installation eventually became curriculum, raising questions about its own “feminist” or “womanist” nature.
- Rome Reborn -- spatial reconstruction project. I recommend viewing Versions 1.0, 2.0, and 2.2 (the most recent version) to observe some of the changes made by the project’s curators over time.
- The Feminist Archive -- Aptly named (if not focused on rhetorical theory).
- Women in World History -- one of the Center for History and New Media's beta projects
- Diotima -- Materials for the Study of Women and Gender in the Ancient World (dated, but good).
- Women and Social Movements -- Knowledge base accounting for their (rhetorical) activity between 1600 and 1900 in America.
Whichever task you choose, please note that I am asking you to propose and describe your installation or archive, not necessarily to build it, and to consider how it legitimates, and how it draws on past or future trends (or both), i.e., emphasizing roots or linkages. Your proposed installation/archive need not be flashy, but it should be well thought-through, responding to some of the specific considerations mentioned in our readings for the week. You may submit your proposed installation/archive in any form (physical, digital, moving or static), but please be sure that it is well explained and shows evidence of your analysis of any other sites and projects that might have influenced it.
Presenting Your Exploratory Results
I have asked you to have a draft ready to discuss/present during our rescheduled class session on Tuesday, November 15, but our presentations will likely not be very formal. Please upload your completed exploratory to Canvas by 2:00 p.m. on Thursday, November 17.
I'll suggest the following working teams for this exploratory:
- Amanda, Jessi, Rob
- Angela, Parisa
- Kamila, Katelyn
- Mandy, Michael
The Critical Blog Post
For your follow-up critical blog post (which you will do individually), please reflect on the reconstruction assignment and how some aspect of the task illumined/complicated/addressed/extended your reading of our texts for this week.
As always, this critical blog post can be reflective but should be formal. It should be a minimum of 2-3 well developed paragraphs in length (a couple of screens), and my great desire is to see you engage expertly with both task and texts, at times speaking through or alongside what we read, and speaking with some insight about what we read (citing where necessary and embedding links where relevant). As your post will be intertextual, I'll ask you to use MLA or Chicago-style parenthetical citations where needed, and to be clear that we know which articles/authors you are referencing.
You will post directly to our course blog, so what you write will become the temporary landing page. Be sure to define terms and unpack assumptions for us, using your posts as occasions to teach. Because the blog is somewhat performative, I'll ask you to title your posts creatively (or insightfully). Feel free to compose your post as a response to someone else’s, if you see an interesting conversation starting on the blog.
Enjoy this final task!
