Shome,+Raka.++Postcolonial+Interventions+in+the+Cannon..+A+Other+View

//Purpose of Rhetoric:// To deconstruct and/or reexamine the ways that we use language to colonize other voices (including via our own rhetorical disciplinary assumptions). //Key Terms:// neocolonialsim; postcolonialism; cultural hybridity; strategic essentialism; diaspora; transnational moment //Quick Summary//: Shome argues that there colonialism must not only be examined in terms of technological or cultural power, but also linguistic power. Shome asks us to consider the ways that rhetoric can be used to uncover these discursive colonizations, from a proliferation of English as “the global language” to a continual exclusion of certain types of voices and discourse. Rhetoric’s focus on public address keep us from examining colonized voices, because they have rarely been allowed to speak publicly – the public forum is controlled by those in power. Likewise, the use of essentialized labels limits our ability to hear and understand mestiza or diasporic voices that cross over and between various identities. However, Shome does recognize the need for strategic essentialism in order to make some arguments (if everything is individualized, how do you argue anything). This can only be done, though, if we recognize the ways that this essentialism is being used strategically rather than assuming that it is a definite or “real” understanding of that group of people. Shome wraps up by asking rhetoricians to gather resources from postcolonial theory, critical rhetoric, feminist rhetoric, and others in order to shift our understandings of rhetoric in order to listen more effectively to those voices traditionally classified as “Other.” //Response:// This article lays out the ideas of Postcolonial rhetoric in a solid and understandable way, bringing together the arguments of the various “othered” rhetorics under a kind of generic heading. It provides a theoretical lens through which to view any rhetorical project examining voices that have been left out and the structures that are in place to exclude those voices. This will be particularly helpful to my own projects in queer rhetorics. Specifically important in this article, for me, is the idea of strategic essentialism, as I have struggled with how to build something after I have deconstructed the system set in place to exclude. We can call for an examination of queer rhetoric, but how do we actually do that examination if there are no defining boundaries for “queer”? While no boundaries that we set will be true or representative boundaries, there has to be a place to start. However, we must also keep in mind that this strategic essentialism may be taken up as reality by our readers and take care to avoid that if possible, and to continue to combat those issues.
 * Shome, Raka. “Postcolonial Interventions in the Cannon: An ‘Other’ View.”**