A Counterhistory of Rhetorical Ecologies

Madison Jones Schlumberger (Ireland)

Abstract

In this essay, I argue that the ecological turn in rhetorical studies has produced spatiotemporal problems and that these problems are directly tied to the material disciplinary history of ecosystems ecology and its connections to the Anthropocene violence of nuclear colonialism. These spatiotemporal concerns result from rhetoric’s “ecological moment”—a kairotic framework that emphasizes flux but elides material histories. Building from rhetorical scholarship in decolonial historiography and place-based methods, I offer a counterhistory of ecology to demonstrate how our field can better engage with the dynamic narrative pasts that shape contemporary rhetorical ecological inquiry. Through this counterhistory, I provide a method for combating rhetoric’s spatiotemporal concerns, a framework I refer to as field histories, which aims to situate disciplinary practices in place and time by combining historiography and fieldwork.

Journal
Rhetoric Society Quarterly
Published
2021-08-08
DOI
10.1080/02773945.2021.1947517
Open Access
Closed

Citation Context

Cited by in this index (6)

  1. Rhetoric Society Quarterly
  2. Rhetoric Society Quarterly
  3. Rhetoric Society Quarterly
  4. Rhetoric Society Quarterly
  5. Technical Communication Quarterly
Show all 6 →
  1. Computers and Composition

Cites in this index (11)

  1. Rhetoric Society Quarterly
  2. Rhetoric Review
  3. Rhetoric Review
  4. Rhetoric Society Quarterly
  5. Rhetoric Society Quarterly
Show all 11 →
  1. Philosophy & Rhetoric
  2. Philosophy & Rhetoric
  3. Philosophy & Rhetoric
  4. College Composition and Communication
  5. Rhetoric Society Quarterly
  6. College English
Also cites 37 works outside this index ↓
  1. 10.1525/9780520341715
  2. 10.1145/3437000.3437001
  3. 10.2307/2265490
    Ecology  
  4. 10.14321/j.ctt7zt5wp
  5. 10.2307/377264
  6. 10.7208/chicago/9780226017945.001.0001
  7. Ecologies of Harm: Rhetorics of Violence in the United States
  8. 10.1007/978-3-319-65711-0_10
  9. 10.1177/1532708616655820
  10. 10.1093/isle/isq029
    ISLE: Interdisciplinary Studies in Literature and Environment  
  11. 10.2307/j.ctt21668mb
  12. Generelle Morphologie der Organismen: Allgemeine Grundzüge der Organischen Formen; Wissen…
  13. An Entangled Bank: The Origins of Ecosystems Ecology
  14. 10.1215/9780822373780
  15. 10.2307/j.ctt5hjqxd
  16. 10.1093/isle/isy079
    ISLE: Interdisciplinary Studies in Literature and Environment  
  17. Nature’s Broken Clocks: Reimagining Time in the Face of the Environmental Crisis
  18. 10.37514/PER-B.2015.0698
  19. 10.1111/j.1741-4113.2012.00922.x
    Literary Compass  
  20. Mediating Nature: The Role of Technology in Ecological Literacy
  21. Scale in Literature and Culture
  22. 10.1093/envhis/emy007
    Environmental History  
  23. Tracing Rhetoric and Material Life Ecological Approaches
  24. 10.1080/10570314.2011.586969
  25. 10.1007/BF00710705
    Argumentation  
  26. 10.7312/mort17752
  27. 10.1097/00004032-199707000-00003
    Health Physics  
  28. 10.2307/1309598
    BioScience  
  29. 10.2307/1948571
    Ecological Monographs  
  30. 10.1080/10570314.2019.1681497
  31. 10.1080/03637751.2017.1336780
  32. 10.2307/j.ctt5hjqwx
  33. Situating Writing Processes
  34. 10.7551/mitpress/6875.001.0001
  35. 10.2307/1930070
  36. The Routledge Handbook of Ecocriticism and Environmental Communication
  37. 10.3998/ohp.12917741.0001.001
CrossRef global citation count: 10 View in citation network →