Rhetoric Review Oct 2019

Making Visible the Nativism-Ableism Matrix: The Rhetoric of Immigrants’ Comics

Layli Maria Miron Pennsylvania State University

Abstract

Nativist ideology, which dominates public discourse, implements ableist hierarchies to reduce immigrants to diseases of the body politic. Immigrants’ graphic narratives, on the other hand, reveal the disabling effects of xenophobic environments. Rhetoricians have begun to recognize comics’ persuasive potential but thus far have not explored their role in immigration rhetoric. Using this medium’s affordances, immigrants critique the nativism-ableism matrix, as exemplified by Parsua Bashi’s comics memoir about immigrating to Switzerland from Iran, Nylon Road (2006/2009). Bashi’s self-worth, displaced by her unreceptive context, depends on accepting a mental (dis)ability. Her comic counters nativism’s eugenic underpinnings by visualizing variation.

Journal
Rhetoric Review
Published
2019-10-02
DOI
10.1080/07350198.2019.1655307
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Topics
rhetorical criticism discourse analysis disability studies public rhetoric
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