Rhetoric: Toward continuous reconciliation

Mind blowing moments abound. 

Last night at the first meeting about the plays Jane Eyre and Johnny Eyre (in which I have two minor roles) the director, Brian, talked about the pressure actors sometimes feel to become their character. 

"Don't worry about that!" he said. "You are fully you, and you are your character. Art is about asking the audience to see two things at once, asking them to hold that you are you AND you are your character."

This was mind blowing. Art is about asking the audience to see two things at once. A novel, asks us to see the real world, and the novel, at the same time. A character, at the same that that I see myself, or my mother, or my country. A painting asks me to see its image and also see reflections of my world, or my past. A song asks me to hear this story or emotion, and overlay my own story or emotion or idea or fantasy. 

Another mind blowing moment: 

Molefi Kete Asante

In On African American Rhetoric today, chapter 4 "Rhetorical Theory" the authors refer to Molefi Kete Asante, who they say offers the most comprehensive discussion of African rhetoric. Asante says "rhetoric must transcend ideologies, whether political or racial, in order to perform the task of continuous reconciliation."

Oh my gosh. Rhetoric in the pursuit of continuous reconciliation. Who has ever heard of such a thing? That is so different from the Aristotelian understanding of rhetoric, "an ability, in each [particular] case, to see the available means of persuasion." ...and then to exploit them for my purposes. I feel like rhetoric has always been described in my education experience as something that helps me WIN. Defeat someone else's arguments, and I'm an accomplished rhetor. 

But what is the point of winning the argument, if they don't acknowledge the legitimacy of my claims? If we are not any closer to reconciliation? 

The chapter also discusses call-and-response tactics again, and how prevalent they are in African-American church services and other gatherings. Even on rap albums, where rappers include the voices of people in conversation with them, because the response is integral. 

This quote made me think of the classroom: 

"In Afrocentric rhetoric, the speaker consciously operates under guidance from the audience, and effective performance cannot be ascertained apart from audience participation or, more precisely, audience demands relative to expressions, gestures and tone."

This is true of the classroom! I believe the class can only progress as it is condoned and visibly and audibly approved of by the students. I cannot progress with a lesson unless I have a clear sense that students are behind the direction of this work. And if they are not responding, it is a reflection of the rhetor (me) because the hearership is not interested.