Call for Papers: Indigenous Rhetorics

Call for Papers IndigiRhet: Articulating Global Indigenous Rhetorics

This collection aims to draw together global indigenous scholars and scholarship that works towards an understanding and articulation of indigenous rhetorical traditions. Articulation is key here in terms of the manner in which things come together and a connection is made -- for example, the moving parts of our bodies are articulated (knees, elbows, etc.) in that they are both separate and dependant upon each other for their function, their usefulness. So, the aim of this collection is not to homogenize thousands of indigenous rhetorical practices under a central theoretical rubric. It is, instead, to honor the many ways in which indigenous rhetorical practices are highly divergent, rooted in specific lands and histories, by gathering scholarship about the breadth of those traditions together in one place so that readers themselves can search for the places where those divergent practices come together, where those functional connections are made. We are interested in receiving submissions that:

address all forms of indigenous rhetorical production will be welcomed -- written, spoken, painted, performed, woven, stitched, sung, danced, digitized, filmed, recorded, photographed, etc.;

focus on singular indigenous traditions (for example, Cherokee rhetorics), regional traditions (for example, indigenous Oceania rhetorics), or comparative traditions;

focus on individual indigenous rhetors;

look at specific historical moments & processes;

consider contemporary rhetorical production;

are anchored in indigenous rhetorical and theoretical traditions themselves.

We are especially interested in submissions that engage or enact decolonial methodologies.

Deadline for submissions is September 30th, 2008.

Please include your contact information and a brief (500-word) abstract of your piece with your submissions.

All submissions should be sent to:

Malea Powell
Rhetoric & Writing Program
Michigan State University
5A Olds HallEast Lansing, MI 48854
powell37@msu.edu (all e-mail correspondence should use "IndigiRhet" in the subject line)