John M. Sloop

The Critique of Vernacular Discourse

Critical rhetoricians should, by criticizing vernacular discourse, follow the path of those who have discussed the rhetoric of the oppressed. The critique of powerful discourse has broad “historical” impact and therefore has been the primary mode of critique within rhetorical criticism. In addition to the critique of widely disseminated texts, critics should examine texts that profoundly influence vernacular communities and communitas. We conceptualize how a study of vernacular discourse could be carried out by defining vernacular, describing the critique of vernacular discourse, explaining the purpose of such criticism, and illustrating our approach through a brief study of one example of vernacular discourse: World War II representations of women in the Pacific Citizen, a Japanese American newspaper.

Shifting borders : rhetoric, immigration, and California's Proposition 187

Acknowledgments 1. Introduction 2. The Proliferation of Enemies to the National Body 3. Pro-187 California Nativism in the Los Angeles Times 4. Opposition and Complicity in the Los Angeles Times 5. Complicity and Resistance in Vernacular Discourse 6. Outlaw Vernacular Discourse: Thinking Otherwise 7. Conclusion Appendix: Excerpts from the Proposition 187 Ballot Notes References Index

Commitment to telos—a sustained critical rhetoric

Our paper attempts to illustrate how a commitment toward telos enhances the critical process. We argue that self‐critical and “skeptical” scholarship is not an end in itself. Such work does not demonstrate, sufficiently, the contingent nature of criticism and its relationship to the society in which the critic is a member. Self‐reflective criticism isolates the critic and fates her to reproducing a lonely account of what culture is and how it functions. We call for an orientation toward criticism that acknowledges the contingent nature of meaning formation. Critics have a stake in the critical act itself and therefore should describe their purpose through telos. Telos is not teleological or Utopian; rather, telos is the continuous, ever changing purpose, as ephemeral and enduring as putting pen to paper, of the critic and society. It is the temporary fixing of meaning that admits the political nature of criticism, hence its need to affect change. We offer three examples of what a commitment toward telos w...

Disciplining the transgendered: Brandon Teena, public representation, and normativity

This is an electronic version of an article published in Western Journal of Communication 64.2 (2000): 165-189. Western Journal of Communication is available online at: http://www.informaworld.com/smpp/.

“What Lips These Lips Have Kissed”: Refiguring the Politics of Queer Public Kissing Earlier versions of the essay were presented at the 2003 NCA/AFA Argumentation Conference and at the 2004 NCA convention.

In this essay, we argue that man-on-man kissing, and its representations, have been insufficiently mobilized within apolitical, incremental, and assimilationist pro-gay logics of visibility. In response, we call for a perspective that understands man-on-man kissing as a political imperative and kairotic. After a critical analysis of man-on-man kissings relation to such politics, we discuss how it can be utilized as a juggernaut in a broader project of queer world making, and investigate ideological, political, and economic barriers to the creation of this queer kissing “visual mass.” We conclude with relevant implications regarding same-sex kissing and the politics of visible pleasure.

“This is Not Natural:” Caster Semenya's Gender Threats

After Caster Semenya won a gold medal in the 800-meter race at the 2009 World Championships in Athletics, news was released that the governing body of the race was having Semenya undergo both drug and “gender tests.” The announcement was accompanied by a large body of public discourse—news stories, blogs, comedy routines—that, in effect, provided a snapshot view of contemporary cultural understandings of gender and its signifiers. In this essay, I provide a description of the various hegemonic understandings of gender, point to fissures in these articulations, and reflect on criticism, transglobal communication, and competitive sport.

Critical Rhetorics of Controversy

This is an electronic version of an article published in Western Journal of Communication 63.4 (1999): 526-538. Western Journal of Communication is available online at: http://www.informaworld.com/smpp/.

Riding in Cars Between Men

Through an analysis of public discourse surrounding two different controversies featuring professional race car driver, Deborah Renshaw, this article foregrounds contemporary relationships between gender and (auto)mobility. It draws on both theories of gender performativity and media ecology to outline the ways in which the automobile as a technology influences gender performance and the ways in which the automobile is understood through cultural discourses that are already largely gendered. The essay uses the discourse surrounding the Renshaw case to problematize both contemporary gender norms and understandings of the relationship between prosthetic media and the body.

The politics of authenticity in postmodern rock culture: The case of Negativland and the letter ‘U’ and the numeral ‘2‘

Based on recent concerns with the notion of authenticity and effective politics in contemporary popular culture and scholarship on culture, this essay uses a case study of the legal and popular controversy surrounding the Negativland recording, “The Letter ‘U’ and the Number ‘2’.” The analysis points to the organic development of alternative logics in the changing landscape of popular culture. Moreover, we point to the relationship between the “pastiche” style of the Negativland recording as a metaphor for authenticity and justice in postmodern rock culture.

“A van with a bar and a bed”: Ritualized gender norms in the John/Joan case

Through a critical reading of the mass mediated discourse that arose in the wake of the John/Joan or “twins” case, this analysis investigates contemporary iterations of gender performativity, gendered morals and feminism. The author calls for a complication of gender culture and feminism in the public sphere.