IEEE Transactions on Professional Communication Mar 2022

Archives, Rhetorical Absence, and Critical Imagination: Examining Black Women's Mental Health Narratives at Virginia's Central State Hospital

Natasha N. Jones Michigan State University ; Miriam F. Williams Texas State University

Abstract

<bold xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">Introduction:</b> This article examines the rhetorical implications of archiving technical documents by studying the erasure of Black women's mental health narratives in Virginia's Central State Mental Hospital in the late 1800s and early 1900s. This article seeks to examine how historical mental health documents characterize (or fail to characterize) Black women and their mental health. <bold xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">About the case:</b> We examine Black women's mental health experiences through absences in the annual reports from Central State Hospital in Virginia (formerly Central State Lunatic Asylum for Colored Insane). <bold xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">Situating the case:</b> There is a dearth of work related to the unique experiences that Black women face when dealing with mental health challenges coupled with or compounded by a legacy of misogynoir. <bold xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">Methods/approach:</b> We offer an inventive approach for reading rhetorical absences and provide guiding questions for employing the critical archival inquiry methodology. <bold xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">Results/discussion:</b> In taking on this endeavor to learn more about how Black women's mental health was represented in historical archives, we learned a great deal, not from the text on the page of the documents but from the text that was missing from those documents. <bold xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">Conclusions:</b> Technical communication scholars, especially those with an interest in inclusion and justice, must adjust their methodological orientation and their approaches to historical and archival research to include an exploration of what is missing from the archives. Technical and professional communicators have a unique skill set that is ideal for reading through absences and erasures in both contemporary and historical documents.

Journal
IEEE Transactions on Professional Communication
Published
2022-03-01
DOI
10.1109/tpc.2022.3140883
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Topics
rhetorical criticism technical communication archival research gender and writing
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Citation Context

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No articles in this index cite this work.

Cites in this index (7)

  1. Jones et al. (2017)
    The Social Justice Impact of Plain Language: A Critical Approach to Plain-Langu…
    IEEE Transactions on Professional Communication
  2. Jones et al. (2016)
    Disrupting the Past to Disrupt the Future: An Antenarrative of Technical Commun…
    Technical Communication Quarterly
  3. Jones (2016)
    The Technical Communicator as Advocate
    Journal of Technical Writing and Communication
  4. Agboka (2014)
    Decolonial Methodologies: Social Justice Perspectives in Intercultural Technica…
    Journal of Technical Writing and Communication
  5. Ding et al. (2013)
    Guest Editors' Introduction: New Directions in Intercultural Professional Commu…
    Technical Communication Quarterly
Show all 7 →
  1. Gaillet (2012)
    (Per)Forming Archival Research Methodologies
    College Composition and Communication
  2. Williams (2006)
    Tracing W. E. B. DuBois' “Color Line” in Government Regulations
    Journal of Technical Writing and Communication
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CrossRef global citation count: 7 View in citation network → Build reading path →

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