Articulating a decolonial materialist rhetoric.

This thesis is preoccupied with challenging the way current rhetoricians approach criticism of Native discourse, that which is produced within and by Native communities. Beginning with Ronald Greene’s “A Materialist Rhetoric,” this thesis injects Native intellectual scholarship into the field of rhetoric, forming what I call a decolonial materialist rhetoric. A decolonial materialist rhetoric issues two unique challenges to the field of rhetoric. The first posits a new style of criticism that demonstrates why one should no longer be satisfied with scholarship that simply names Native communities as historical objects. The second challenge of a decolonial materialist rhetoric is directed at the rhetorician, challenging their disembodied approach to criticism. Throughout this project I will challenge previous scholars’ views of Native discourse, provide counter narratives of Native mythology, and charge rhetoricians with a new purpose as academics.