Rhetoric Society Quarterly May 2022

Self-Identified as Nonpolitical: Locating Characteristics of African Rhetoric in Nigerian Women’s Words

Maria Martin

Abstract

According to African women’s theorizing, nationalism can be nonpolitical. This is a novel approach to defining nationalism, which is usually seen as a purely political event. Women of the Federation of Nigerian Women’s Organizations (FNWO) developed a rhetoric of nonpolitical nationalism in the 1950s that has been ignored by the current politically elite male-led narrative of African nationalism. This marginalization of African women is mirrored in the Black rhetorical cannon as well because they are Africans in an African American-centered narrative. In order to address this double marginality and to understand their novel characterization of nationalism, this essay joins scholarly conversations in the field of women’s historical rhetorics by upholding two objectives. First, it highlights the unique rhetoric of Nigerian women in the FNWO. Second, it analyzes their words to uncover characteristics of nonpolitical thought and situate it within a broader African rhetorical tradition.

Journal
Rhetoric Society Quarterly
Published
2022-05-27
DOI
10.1080/02773945.2022.2077625
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Topics
rhetorical criticism african american rhetorics archival research race and writing gender and writing
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