1 Rhetorical Embodiment
Sunayani Bhattacharya
Learning Objectives
By the end of this chapter, you will be able to
- Define embodied rhetorics as a concept
- Understand how it relates to reading and writing
Defining Embodied Rhetorics
What does it mean to write as a person living in a body? Embodied rhetoric asks you to think about the connection between writing and the lived experiences of yours and others’ bodies. It takes into account that each of us comes from different cultural, linguistic, racial, gendered, and economic identity positions, and that all these elements together make up how we write and think about writing.
For our purposes, embodied rhetoric can be defined as follows:
Breaking It Down
These are the key takeaways for embodied rhetoric as a theoretical and practical approach to writing
- Writing is always done by somebody
- Knowledge is always produced by somebody
- That somebody brings to their writing their physical, emotional, and social experiences
- All aspects of writing, including argument, style, and mechanics reflect these experiences
- Since there is no universal or normative body, there is no universal or “true” knowledge
- Similarly, there is no universal or one correct way to write
Seeing the Theory at Work
Now that you have read the description of embodied rhetoric, let’s see it at work. The following paragraph is from the introduction to Bodies of Knowledge: Embodied Rhetorics in Theory and Practice. It is written by one of the co-editors of the book, Abby Knoblauch. As you read the paragraph, think about how the author is bringing their body to the act of writing. How are they writing as a person living and moving through this world?
Abby
In so many ways, I move through the world easily. I’m a white cisgender woman who is presumed hetero and is (mostly) able-bodied. I’m more welcome in many spaces than many others are, and I can approximate the embodied expectations in ways many others can’t. But being a fat woman carries its own interconnected issues. As I navigate a world not made with me in mind, I’m very aware of how my body takes up space and how I respond to the expectations of bodies, especially women’s bodies, in public. When I enter a space, I can’t make myself small even if I want to, and some days I do want to. Other days, I really don’t. This push and pull of wanting to fit in (both literally and figuratively) and wanting to embrace the excess causes me to gravitate toward work that flows over those boundaries, embracing that which is often expected to be excised. (Knoblauch and Moeller, “Introduction,” 13).
Putting the Theory into Practice
Having seen how others are thinking about embodied rhetoric, now turn the lens onto yourself. As you perform the following exercise, also think about how many identity positions you occupy, and the many ways in which they intersect.
Invitation to Write
Take a fresh piece of paper, or open up a new document. Give yourself five minutes (start a timer) to respond to the following question.
- Write down one way in which your identity affects your writing. You are welcome to interpret “identity” and “writing” however you want.
Note to Instructors:
Embodied rhetorics forms the theoretical backbone of this book. As a pedagogical strategy, the authors of this book would like to recommend revisiting this concept while introducing sections/assignments to students. Such an approach, we believe, will help students develop a deeper understanding of embodied rhetorics, while learning how to situate their reading and writing practices within their lived experiences as physical beings moving through the world. To help encourage such a reiterative use of this book, a link to this theoretical introduction has been included in the first section of each chapter.
Works Cited
Cedillo, Christina V. “What Does It Mean to Move?: Race, Disability, and Critical Embodiment Pedagogy.” In Composition Forum, vol. 39. Association of Teachers of Advanced Composition, 2018.
Knoblauch, A. Abby and Marie E. Moeller, Bodies of Knowledge: Embodied Rhetorics in Theory and Practice, Colorado: Utah State University Press, 2022.
