Nobody knows it like Fell. What an ethos/logos filled argument.
I noticed common use of (would we call it vernacular? Jargon?) phrases within a
targeted discourse community. Being that I am not well versed in common
Christian phrases, one did stick out to me. She used the phrase “stumbling
block” in reference to two misinterpreted/misused scriptures (top of page 757).
She used it in such a way that it seemed natural and a simple matter of course
for the discourse, but to those who might recognize the phrase in biblical
terms, she lends to those people who willfully utilize the
misinterpretation/misuse of scripture a connotation (without coming right out
with it) of chosen evil, e.g. those who use the two scriptures to suggest women
should keep silent. See, the phrase “stumbling
block” is represented in the Bible as something one uses to cause another
to sin. Fell’s meaning is that men of power misusing the scripture to cause
women to keep silent is a two-fold problem: first the men of power sin by
creating a “stumbling block” and second, the women who keep silent sin by
keeping silent. The phrase is also tied to Satan himself. She then refers to
the users of such misinterpretation as “the ministers of Darkness” perhaps linking religious leaders to the devil. Well played, Fell!
Quite a different approach is taken by eloquent Sor Juana de
la Cruz, though rhetorical parts are just as masterfully hidden within the
text. She proclaims that, “[t]here can be no doubt that in order to understand
many passages, one must know a great deal of the history, customs, rituals,
proverbs and even the habits of speech of the times in which they were written,
in order to know what is indicated and what alluded to by certain sayings in
divine letters.” She then continues a lengthy litany of examples of such
knowledge she herself retains. It is a subtle accusation (without making a
direct accusation) of ignorance against “Filotea de la Cruz” or any who suggest
she had no reason to study. It develops her own ethos, while hinting at
questioning the credibility of her critics. Well played, Sor Juana!
Well played is right. I know we started out with the working definition for rhetoric being "the art of persuasion" but reading these texts (specifically Fell's) has really made me want to throw "manipulation" into the running. Fell is pointed and cutting, but her own personal knowledge of the Bible lends itself to her argument.
ReplyDeleteI spoke about this in my own blog, but it really is a little scary just how many people have turned the words of the bible in their own favor as Fell has done here; the struggle with women's right to speak in her age is one that probably most people (with the exception of those who still retain a mysoginist mindset) would agree was a worthy cause that warranted her usage of the bible in that way...but you look at how people used it against the civil rights movement, and it's scary. Interesting, all the same.