Title
Reading the Rhetoric of Universality: The Discursive Transformation of Race in 1930s Public Discourse
Abstract
This dissertation utilizes three case studies to explore changing conceptualizations of race at a turbulent moment in rhetorical history. In particular, this dissertation traces evidence of conceptual change by analyzing the textual form and critical reception of James Truslow Adams' <italic>The Epic of America</italic>, Pearl S. Buck's <italic>The Good Earth</italic>, and Zora Neale Hurston's <italic>Mules and Men</italic>. This project argues that the discursive transformation from the ideology of scientific racism to a more egalitarian vision of universal humanity was facilitated by specific rhetorical processes, which have had ongoing, ambiguous consequences for contemporary public discourse.
Description
University of Minnesota Ph.D. dissertation. May 2013. Major: Communication Studies. Advisor: Kirt Wilson. 1 computer file (PDF); iv, 1985 pages.
Suggested Citation
Williamson, Kasi.
(2013).
Reading the Rhetoric of Universality: The Discursive Transformation of Race in 1930s Public Discourse.
Retrieved from the University of Minnesota Digital Conservancy,
https://hdl.handle.net/11299/182719.