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Ashby Dissertation.pdf (3.23 MB)

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Enacting a Rhetoric of Inside-Outside Positionalities: From the Indexing Practice of Uchi/Soto to a Reiterative Process of Meaning-Making

Ashby, Dominic James
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=miami1374700519

Abstract Details

2013, Doctor of Philosophy, Miami University, English.
This project rethinks the study of comparative rhetoric and its contributions to the global turn in rhetorical study. It theorizes a rhetoric of inside-outside positionalities, building on the uchi/soto (inside/outside) dynamic, a feature of Japanese language and social interactions. Inside-outside positionalities offers new ways of understanding instances of meaning-making brought about by intercultural interactions, and highlights the importance of comparative approaches for engaging with global and local rhetorics. Alongside developing a new theory, the project makes a case for comparative epistemologies as both means and ends for ethical rhetorical study in a globalized world. Chapter 1 rethinks the indexical (pointing to established meanings) dynamic of uchi and soto as constitutive of new meaning. Drawing from Jane Bachnik's work with uchi/soto, which explains Japanese social interactions as shifting between insider and outsider status, this chapter recuperates the uchi/soto dynamic as a rhetoric of inside-outside positionalities, a meaning-making principle that is reiterative (as developed by Judith Butler) rather than indexical. Chapter 2 uses inside-outside positionalities to rethink the construction of cultural identity. It explores how those things regarded as representing the innermost (i.e., essential) ideals of a culture or group draw from both outside and inside cultural influences. Such readings destabilize notions of cultural essence. Two sites are explored: The Japanese Christmas cake and the animated series Taisho Baseball Girls. Chapter 3 turns to the troping of Japanese women as an enactment of inside-outside positionalities in creating a modern national identity. The first portion of the chapter discusses the "troping" of women by Japanese elites to shape Japanese cultural identity; the latter portion addresses how these tropes can be resisted through critical recombination. Changing images of the Japanese schoolgirl identity, ranging from its early 20th century emergence to the later "kogal" identity of the 1990s and 2000s, serves as an example. Chapter 4 presents a comparison of inside-outside positionalities and Burke's theory of identification. It shows that inside-outside positionalities complements identification as a means of interpreting and establishing affiliations, demonstrating how this global rhetoric can enrich foundational but euro-centric notions of rhetoric.
LuMing Mao, PhD (Committee Chair)
Kate Ronald, PhD (Committee Member)
Jason Palmeri, PhD (Committee Member)
Lisa Weems, PhD (Committee Member)
130 p.
Comparative; Rhetoric
Japanese rhetoric; uchi soto; inside outside; inside-outside positionalities; rhetoric; comparative rhetoric; intercultural rhetoric; identification; trope; troping; nostalgia; anime; national identity; Japan; Kenneth Burke

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Citations

  • Ashby, D. J. (2013). Enacting a Rhetoric of Inside-Outside Positionalities: From the Indexing Practice of Uchi/Soto to a Reiterative Process of Meaning-Making [Doctoral dissertation, Miami University]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=miami1374700519

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Ashby, Dominic. Enacting a Rhetoric of Inside-Outside Positionalities: From the Indexing Practice of Uchi/Soto to a Reiterative Process of Meaning-Making. 2013. Miami University, Doctoral dissertation. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=miami1374700519.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Ashby, Dominic. "Enacting a Rhetoric of Inside-Outside Positionalities: From the Indexing Practice of Uchi/Soto to a Reiterative Process of Meaning-Making." Doctoral dissertation, Miami University, 2013. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=miami1374700519

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

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© 2013, all rights reserved.
This open access ETD is published by Miami University and OhioLINK.
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