December 11, 2018James Young

Letter To Editor – James T. Young

HR: Rubric, PCA Proposal, Word Count: 1110

-signed- James T. Young

James T. Young

12/10/18

 

Letter to the Editor

Rhetoric and its composition has had a longstanding history throughout popular western culture. Without the presence of rhetoric in the compiling of ideas, the modern school of thought and education would be different within its structure. Even though the structure of education towards rhetoric is highly focused on the ancient sophists and Greek orators from the era of Plato, Aristotle, and Socrates, the textbook “The History and Theory of Rhetoric: An Introduction” published by author James A. Herrick for Routledge publishing only focuses on the traditional western rhetorical practices and traditions that were used by the Greeks and eventually spread throughout the European continent. While this prioritization of these cultures over the international cultures has taken place, there is still time to correct the error of omitting the rhetorical traditions that have made the international community diverse and widely skilled in the ability to connect a message to a listener while adding useful insight into the lives of those who lived in these nontraditional cultures during the time. Having more perspectives from the countless global rhetoricians will not take away the value of traditional European rhetorical traditions, but it will surely only add to the rich assortment of rhetoric that can be found throughout the world. Due to the limited global perspective towards rhetorical practices, I propose to you, Mr. Brian Eschrich, that Routledge publishing should absolutely offer a new textbook for reader to have a more inclusive overview towards the practice of rhetoric from around the globe.

While the uses of rhetoric in cultures, like the Greek, can easily be traced and given concrete examples for uses, there are cultures that each person in our class examined to find representative examples of rhetoric for each selected culture’s traditions. Although European rhetorical practice has a great deal of history and value, the way it was spoken about is very concrete and doesn’t offer much room for the more diverse forms of rhetoric. These different sources of rhetorical information and practice can easily be found in cultures in each and every continent. Whether it was written text depicting rhetoric or more physically expressive forms of art, like dance, each culture was unique in how they shared messages towards their own people and outsiders through the passage of time.

One of the cultures that was found to be unique from the traditional European rhetorical traditions were the Nok and Ife cultures from Western Africa. These cultures came into prominence in what is now known as Nigeria all the way back in 900 BCE and were present up until the late 14th century after the conquest of many European nations in Africa following the ivory and slave trade (Holloway 2013). Before the diaspora and disappearance of these cultures were these great societies who were highly expressive artistically and socially. The Nok were the first culture that was examined to show the unique rhetorical practices beginning generations ago in 900 BCE. Little is known about the Nok due to their limited amount of recorded rhetoric, but the most that the modern world has is the large amount of terracotta and wooden carvings. Many of the works of art from the Nok are renowned for their expressive features through a medium of art that is very seldomly emulated through other cultures (Drewal 2009). Besides their great skill in art, the Nok were also known for their ability to communicate and trade between countless cultures in Africa as they were some of the first to learn about the domestication of chickens and eventually spread the information to the northern portions of Africa through years of cross-cultural interaction and trade (Woldekiros 2016). Having so much outside interaction allowed for the Nok people to prosper for many generations until they mysteriously disappeared.

From the missing of the Nok arose the Ife culture in the same regions of what is now Nigeria. This culture was able to take the skills and practices used by the Nok to make even more terracotta and wood carving artistic expressions showing the values and activities that were conducted in their time. Ife culture was one centered around the use of dance and artistic expression so that their ideas and their own history could be spread in manners that were not of typical European practice in the form of written text (Okafor 2017). The ideas of the Ife were well represented in their conceptualization of their culture being the center of the universe, drawing many parallels to early Chinese culture that believed their own culture to be the center of all focus and the universe (Khan Academy 2018). Although the Nok and Ife were different from other cultures in their expression of emotion and ideas, they chose to do so in manners of artistic dance and both wooden and terracotta sculpture. Unfortunately for the Ife culture, it was eventually met with the European scramble for Africa as those “developed” nations frantically swarmed the African continent for the scarce resources that were of immense value to the European powers of the time.

Representation matters in life; it doesn’t matter whether it’s for politics, sports, entertainment or anything, having the representation of those who aren’t given the ability or the opportunity to be represented in society is vital. The material taught is only installed because it has a long history of being used with little inclusion from opposing opinions. History is often only presented from the perspective of the victor as is it is the only view that matters from those who are able to share the stories and lessons from the events. This would be a process of merit if it didn’t completely overlook the standing history of many cultures like the Nok and Ife who would have been able to enhance the rhetorical practices of all through their artistic expression. By not including the cultures from around the world, an over-importance is put on the European cultures surrounding the periods before and after the Renaissance throughout modern Europe. With modern life, there have been significant improvements towards having a more well-rounded perspective on the overall topic of rhetoric thankfully due to the purposeful inclusion of information. By rewriting the textbook “The History and Theory of Rhetoric: An Introduction” to include cultures from across the globe throughout time there can be a better representation of rhetoric and its ability to impact the lives of everyone, regardless of their native culture. In a more globalized society and world, having the ability to view multiple perspectives is becoming a more important skill and can make all the difference. I hope you considering including more diverse cultures from outside the Mediterranean. I hope you have a nice day.

            Sources

  • Drewal, Henry John. “Nok Culture.” Nok Art, 5 Sept. 2009

hum.lss.wisc.edu/hjdrewal/Nok.html

James Young

A current Virginia Military Institute cadet majoring in English and minoring in Writing and Rhetoric. I am seeking full time employment in the Richmond upon graduation from the Virginia Military Institute by May of 2021. Found throughout the tabs are some examples of my work throughout my handful of internships. Enjoy, and if you have any questions, please feel free to ask me questions at jtyoung1998@gmail.com

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *