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Hagiographic Feminist Rhetoric: An Analysis of the Sermons of Bishop Marjorie Matthews

Spencer, Leland G., IV
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ucin1242914318

Abstract Details

2009, MA, University of Cincinnati, Arts and Sciences : Communication.
In July 1980, in Dayton, Ohio, church history reached a milestone for gender equality. Marjorie Swank Matthews became the first woman to be elected as a bishop in any Protestant Christian denomination. The purpose of this thesis project is to conduct a feminist rhetorical criticism of three of Bishop Matthews’s sermons from across her four-year term in the episcopal leadership of the United Methodist Church. Feminist rhetorical scholarship broadly falls into two perspectives, writing women in and challenging rhetorical standards. While neither perspective is complete, this project’s method is to combine the two perspectives, an approach that offers the potential for insightful and productive knowledge generation. Therefore, this thesis simultaneously considers questions from scholars with diametric understandings of feminism and the application of feminist values to rhetorical theory and criticism. The sermons this project considers, in chronological order, are “Chosen for Challenge,” dated February 16, 1982; “The Sign of Discipleship,” dated May 1, 1983 and May 15, 1983; and “We Shall Go Forth,” dated October 13, 1984. This project uncovers the rhetorical strategies of the first woman bishop in any Christian denomination and argues that understanding her life and rhetoric as hagiographic is valuable. Implications for the usefulness of each perspective (and the combination of perspectives) for rhetorical theory and criticism are considered.
John Lynch, PhD (Committee Chair)
Heather Zoller, PhD (Committee Member)
James W. Crocker-Lakness, PhD (Committee Member)
82 p.
Communication; Religion; Religious Congregations; Religious Education; Religious History; Rhetoric; Womens Studies
feminism; rhetoric; Marjorie Matthews; hagiography; invitational rhetoric; feminine style; religion; religious rhetoric

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Spencer, IV, L. G. (2009). Hagiographic Feminist Rhetoric: An Analysis of the Sermons of Bishop Marjorie Matthews [Master's thesis, University of Cincinnati]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ucin1242914318

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Spencer, IV, Leland. Hagiographic Feminist Rhetoric: An Analysis of the Sermons of Bishop Marjorie Matthews. 2009. University of Cincinnati, Master's thesis. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ucin1242914318.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Spencer, IV, Leland. "Hagiographic Feminist Rhetoric: An Analysis of the Sermons of Bishop Marjorie Matthews." Master's thesis, University of Cincinnati, 2009. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ucin1242914318

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

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© 2009, all rights reserved.
This open access ETD is published by University of Cincinnati and OhioLINK.