Thesis
Early feminism in Argentina: Victoria Ocampo's life writing as a feminist rhetorical act
Washington State University
Master of Arts (MA), Washington State University
05/2020
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.7273/000004044
Handle:
https://hdl.handle.net/2376/125342
Abstract
Utilizing contemporary American feminist methodologies, I rhetorically analyze two pieces of writing by Argentine author Victoria Ocampo in an attempt to reinvigorate and intellectualize the roots of the Argentine feminist movement. To begin with, I discuss the rhetorical dimensions of Ocampo's life writing and categorize it as epideictic rhetoric thus arguing that there are sections of both her travel album and autobiography that configure a fertile landscape for developing feminist rhetorical scholarship. In so doing, I seek to complicate our common understanding of life writing as a non-rhetorical genre and contend that diving into the nature of an author's private writing that became public posthumously allows for insightful rhetorical research. Next, I examine Ocampo's travel album and identify examples that speak to how she rehearsed her feminist rhetorics within a safe environment before becoming a more outspoken essayist. Then, I investigate her autobiography titled Against the Wind and the Tide and offer evidence of how in this text Ocampo addresses her readership utilizing Burke's concept of identification in order to critique ways in which the patriarchy works at the discursive level and thus reclaim a rhetorical space for Argentine women in society. To conclude, I reflect on what this research project has signified to my academic path.
Metrics
Details
- Title
- Early feminism in Argentina
- Creators
- Ricardo Martin Ramirez
- Contributors
- Patricia Ann Wilde (Advisor) - Washington State University, Department of English
- Awarding Institution
- Washington State University
- Academic Unit
- Department of English
- Theses and Dissertations
- Master of Arts (MA), Washington State University
- Publisher
- Washington State University
- Identifiers
- 99900890793501842
- Language
- English
- Resource Type
- Thesis