Muscular Articulations: Towards a Theorization of the Interaction between Rhetoric and Physical Fitness

Nicholas P Marino, Purdue University

Abstract

In this dissertation, I theorize the interaction between rhetoric and physical fitness through the critical analysis of texts in which references to both appear. These include Plato’s dialogue, Gorgias, Samuel P. Newman’s pedagogical treatise, A Practical System of Rhetoric, and Bob Mizer’s physical culture magazine, Physique Pictorial. My project extends the methods of ecological rhetorical analysis by adding frameworks of bodily motion from anatomy and kinesiology. In doing so, I craft a new theory of muscular articulation. Each text serves as a case study of how two different discourses flex and extend in order to accomplish a particular rhetorical objective. Since most rhetorical theories of embodiment engage with the masculine assumptions undergirding rhetorical theory, I show how the flexion and extension of discourses maintain or challenge hegemonic masculinity.

Degree

Ph.D.

Advisors

Johnson-Sheehan, Purdue University.

Subject Area

Rhetoric|Gender studies

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