English Language and Literature ETDs

Publication Date

2-1-2016

Abstract

This dissertation is first an historical trajectory of Chicana Rhetoric in the American polis and then a perspectival analysis of three key texts from Chicana labor rights activist and vice president of the United Farm Workers Union Dolores Huerta. The trajectory establishes an efficacious legacy of Chicana Rhetoric and the analyses of Huerta's rhetoric explore what Chicana Rhetoric is and is not through the lens of media, scholarly, and personal rendition. I argue throughout that Chicana Rhetoric is representative of current intersections in social, political, racial, and gender rhetorics and Dolores Huerta is the embodiment of these intersections. The implications of this speak to the immediate need for Rhetoric and Composition to honor Chicana rhetors and scholars in our canonical fields of study.'

Degree Name

English

Level of Degree

Doctoral

Department Name

English

First Committee Member (Chair)

Vasquez, Irene

Second Committee Member

Jones, Natasha

Third Committee Member

Vizcaino-Aleman, Melina

Language

English

Keywords

Rhetoric, Chicana, Chicana/o, Dolores Huerta, United Farm Workers, UFW, Mexican American, Third space feminism, social semiotics, rhetorical analysis, Chicano Civil Rights Movement, labor rights, civil rights, Cesar Chavez

Document Type

Dissertation

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