Rhetoric Society Quarterly Mar 2019

Xvangelical: The Rhetorical Work of Personal Narratives in Contemporary Religious Discourse

Bethany Mannon Seva Mandir

Abstract

Evangelical women who write from lived experience—in blogs, social media, and memoirs—develop a personal narrative rhetoric to negotiate contentious currents of religious thought. This essay studies the work of Sarah Bessey and Jen Hatmaker, who use this rhetorical strategy to destabilize mainstream evangelical discourses of gender and biblical authority. This study expands understandings of rhetorical practices in North American evangelicalism, particularly the contemporary, female-led Xvangelical movement. Analyzing their writing illuminates the interplay among feminist and conservative agendas in debates over gender roles and biblical authority. Because they take conservative doctrine seriously, Hatmaker and Bessey invoke an audience of evangelical readers disappointed with the political and patriarchal commitments of their churches. Finally, this essay advances conversations about the rhetoric of personal narrative. Bessey and Hatmaker explore the ways life writing creates knowledge and offers alternatives to argumentation based in certainty that often characterizes evangelical rhetoric.

Journal
Rhetoric Society Quarterly
Published
2019-03-15
DOI
10.1080/02773945.2018.1547418
CompPile
Open Access
Closed
Topics
rhetorical criticism discourse analysis argument social media gender and writing
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Citation Context

Cited by in this index (1)

  1. Mannon (2023)
    The Rhetorical Influence of Contemporary Evangélicas
    Rhetoric Review

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CrossRef global citation count: 6 View in citation network → Build reading path →

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