Rhetoric Society Quarterly Jan 2008

Unclenching the Fist: Embodying Rhetoric and Giving Objects Their Due

Richard Marback Wayne State University

Abstract

The vandalizing of Monument to Joe Louis initiated efforts in the media to explain both the meaning of the vandalism and of the monument itself. This article engages those efforts to find an explanation linking act to object. Proceeding through the joining of acts, objects, and words, this article works toward a non-reductive account of the embodiment of rhetoric.

Journal
Rhetoric Society Quarterly
Published
2008-01-16
DOI
10.1080/02773940701779751
CompPile
Search in CompPile ↗
Open Access
Closed
Topics
rhetorical criticism body and rhetoric
Export
BibTeX RIS

Citation Context

Cited by in this index (11)

  1. Richards (2026)
    Aura, Objects, and Originality: One Answer to the Question of Marginalized Mate…
    Rhetoric Society Quarterly
  2. Gruber (2023)
    Toward a Rhetorical Theory of the Face: Algorithmic Inequalities and Biometric …
    Rhetoric Review
  3. Cryer (2020)
    The Good Man Shooting Well: Authoritarian Submission and Aggression in the “Gun…
    Rhetoric Society Quarterly
  4. Stagliano (2019)
    Experiments in Posthumanism: On Tactical Rhetorical Encounters between Drones a…
    Computers and Composition
  5. Pflugfelder (2019)
    Risk selfies and nonrational environmental communication
    Communication Design Quarterly
Show all 11 →
  1. Gibbons (2019)
    The recalcitrant invention of X-ray images
    Technical Communication Quarterly
  2. Zamparutti (2018)
    Plato, Mary Baker Eddy, and Kenneth Burke:Can We Talk About Substance?
    Rhetoric Review
  3. Pflugfelder (2015)
    Rhetoric’s New Materialism: From Micro-Rhetoric to Microbrew
    Rhetoric Society Quarterly
  4. Holding (2015)
    The Rhetoric of the Open Fist
    Rhetoric Society Quarterly
  5. Gries (2013)
    Iconographic Tracking: A Digital Research Method for Visual Rhetoric and Circul…
    Computers and Composition
  6. Sheridan (2010)
    Fabricating Consent: Three-Dimensional Objects as Rhetorical Compositions
    Computers and Composition

References (19) · 1 in this index

  1. (2004)
    “Art Symbolism: Hands Down, Fist is Still Controversial.”
  2. Bevan Robert (2006)
    The Destruction of Memory: Architecture at War
  3. Blair Carole (1999)
    Rhetorical Bodies
  4. (2001)
    Western Journal of Communication
  5. Blair Carole (1999)
    At the Intersection: Cultural Studies and Rhetorical Studies
Show all 19 →
  1. Colby Joy Hakanson (1986)
    “The Man Behind the Monument.”
  2. Forester John (1993)
    Critical Theory, Public Policy, and Planning Practice: Toward a Critical Pragmatism
  3. Hansen (2004)
    New Philosophy for New Media
  4. Latour Bruno (2005)
    Making Things Public: Atmospheres of Democracy
  5. (1999)
    Pandora's Hope: Essays on the Reality of Science Studies
  6. Marback (1998)
    Detroit and the closed fist: Toward a theory of material rhetoric1
    Rhetoric Review
  7. Gilyard Keith (2004)
    Race and Ethnicity
  8. Markell Patchen (2003)
    Bound by Recognition
  9. Massumi Brian (2002)
    A Shock to Thought: Expression after Deleuze and Guattari
  10. (2002)
    Parables for the Virtual: Movement, Affect, Sensation
  11. Mitchell W. J. T. (2005)
    What Do Pictures Want? The Lives and Loves of Images
     ↗
  12. Schmitt Ben
    “Statue Vandals: Message About Violence, Not Race.”
  13. Scott (1969)
    The Rhetoric of Black Power
  14. Simon (1981)
    The Sciences of the Artificial
CrossRef global citation count: 16 View in citation network → Build reading path →

Related Articles

  1. Rhetoric of Health and Medicine Dec 2025
    Embodying Expertise: The Influence of Online Information in Health Decision Making ↗
    Shanna Cameron
    rhetorical criticism body and rhetoric
  2. Composition Forum Oct 2025
    Rhetorical Strategies of Access-Making: A Technē of Access in Writing Pedagogy ↗
    rhetorical criticism writing pedagogy race and writing disability studies body and rhetoric
  3. Peitho Jan 2025
    Review of Difficult Empathy and Rhetorical Encounters ↗
    Tommie L. McPhetridge
    rhetorical criticism feminist rhetorics race and writing gender and writing body and rhetoric book reviews editorial matter
  4. Rhetoric & Public Affairs Dec 2024
    American Kairos: Washington National Cathedral and the New Civil Religion ↗
    Randall Fowler
    rhetorical criticism discourse analysis argument archival research race and writing gender and writing public rhetoric body and rhetoric place and space editorial matter
  5. Rhetoric & Public Affairs Dec 2024
    Communicating the Other Across Cultures: From Othering as Equipment for Living, to Communicating Other/Wise ↗
    Shelby R. Crow
    modern rhetorical theory rhetorical criticism empirical research public rhetoric body and rhetoric editorial matter