Philosophy & Rhetoric May 2014

Play of Sniffication:

Natasha Seegert University of Utah

Abstract

ABSTRACTIndigenous to North and Central America, the coyote has been revered in the stories of native tribes, trapped by ranchers, and detonated in Saturday morning cartoons. Recently, the coyote has assumed the role of “patroller” in downtown Chicago. This article considers how the coyotes in Chicago decenter and disrupt the logics of rhetoric, in which leads to an encounter with animal rhetorics that are not solely produced by the human animal. The coyotes' play of “sniffication,” not only ruptures the logics of a center but also the anthropocentric system the center was a part of, an anthropocentric structure that attempts to keep rhetoric confined within the sphere of human animals. The texts surrounding the coyotes reveal the unfixed notion of a marginalized being who challenges structural and rhetorical norms.

Journal
Philosophy & Rhetoric
Published
2014-05-22
DOI
10.5325/philrhet.47.2.0158
Open Access
Closed
Topics
race and writing

Citation Context

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    Toward a Rhetoric of Multispecies Justice
    Rhetoric Society Quarterly
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    Thinking Like a Copper Mine: An Ecological Approach to Corporate Ethos and Prosōpon
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    Witnessing the Open Semiosis: A Method for Rhetorical Listening beyond the Human
    Rhetoric Society Quarterly
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    Rhetoric for Earthly Coexistence: Imagining an Ecocentric Rhetoric
    Rhetoric & Public Affairs
  5. Gordon et al. (2017)
    A Rhetorical Bestiary
    Rhetoric Society Quarterly
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  1. Pfister (2017)
    Against the Droid's “Instrument of Efficiency,” For Animalizing Technologies in…
    Philosophy & Rhetoric

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