Revolutionary style : parrēsia and the rhetoric of self-care in the autobiography of Angela Davis.

This thesis explores the rhetoric of self-care in the autobiography of Angela Davis. Staging a conversation between Davis, Michel Foucault, and Audre Lorde, I question how Davis navigates the rhetorical quagmire of writing an explicitly political autobiography while avoiding the interpellation of her personal narrative into a heroic account of legal triumph. To this end, I examine two modes of truth-telling that appear in An Autobiography—political parrēsia and the philosophical parrēsia of self-writing. From these analyses I turn towards a broader consideration of the self-care and how Davis utilizes the erotic as a resource of rhetorical invention to bridge the gap between the personal and the political. Ultimately, I conclude that the ability for An Autobiography to forward political and philosophical parrēsia, in a rhetoric of self-care, indicates the revolutionary style of the text. This style enacts revolution as a mode of being rather than an event.

Name thesis:degree_name

M.A.

Level thesis:degree_level

Masters

Grantor

Baylor University.

Year dc:date.issued

2018

Author dc:creator

• Chowdhury, Amrut, 1993-

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Varda, Scott Joseph.

• Self-care.
• Parrēsia.
• Black feminist rhetoric.

Statement dc:rights

• Baylor University works are protected by copyright. They may be viewed from this source for any purpose, but reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission. Contact libraryquestions@baylor.edu for inquiries about permission.

Language dc:language.iso

en

Handle dc:identifier.uri

https://hdl.handle.net/2104/10441

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:baylor-ir.tdl.org:2104/10441