Race, Rhetoric, and the Postcolonial

Six internationally renowned intellectuals are brought together in a cross-disciplinary dialogue that addresses rhetoric, writing, race, feminist theory, cultural studies, and postcolonial theory.

Table of Contents:
Introduction Staging the Politics of Difference: Homi Bhabha's Critical Literacy Gary A. Olson and Lynn Worsham Toward a Mestiza Rhetoric: Gloria Anzaldua on Composition and Postcoloniality Andrea A. Lunsford Race and the Public Intellectual: A Conversation with Michael Eric Dyson Sidney L Dobrin Hegemony and the Future of Democracy: Ernesto Laclau's Political Philosophy Lynn Worsham and Gary A. Olson Rethinking Political Community: Chantal Mouffe's Liberal Socialism Lynn Worsham and Gary A. Olson Cultural Composition: Stuart Hall on Ethnicity and the Discursive Turn Julie Drew Selected Bibliography Contributors Index

About the Author :
At the University of South Florida, Gary Olson and Lynn Worsham are Professors of English. Most recently, Olson is the coeditor (with Todd W. Taylor) of Publishing in Rhetoric and Composition, also published by SUNY Press, and Worsham is coeditor (with Susan Jarratt) of Feminism and Composition Studies: In Other Words.

Review :
"This book defines links between postcolonial theory and U.S. multiculturalism. The particulars and differences within African American and Chicano/Latino/Hispanic cultures and identities are elegantly illustrated and cogently debated. Ties between multiculturalism and postcolonial theory are linked at many points to concepts of composition and rhetoric-'writing' and 'self'-in diverse, sometimes surprising, nearly always illuminating ways. It offers much food for thought, further discussion, and debate." - C. Jan Swearingen, University of Texas at Arlington "I learned a lot from this book about the complexities of postcolonial theories, and about how those theories intersect with issues of composition and rhetoric. I enjoyed the progression from Homi Bhabha's poststructuralist understanding of postcolonialism through U.S. Latina and African American writers (Anzaldua, Dyson) and out to the British/Caribbean context that Laclau, Mouffe, and Stuart Hall inflect in such different ways. This book provides an accessible introduction to issues which are connected to the daily concerns of writing teachers in important, but not obvious ways. Reading these interviews helps to illuminate those connections." - Susan Wells, Temple University "In the postcolonial era when the English language is no longer confined to imperialistic contexts, this book is a step toward the democratization of language across cultures. The classical definition of rhetoric as the art of persuasion does not change here, but this book points out the need for contextual considerations and sensitivity to cultural nuances." - Mabel Khawaja, Hampton University