Rhetoric and Religion in the Twenty-First Century: Pluralism in a Postsecular Age

Expanding the scope of religious rhetoric

Over the past twenty-five years, the intersection of rhetoric and religion has become one of the most dynamic areas of inquiry in rhetoric and writing studies. One of few volumes to include multiple traditions in one conversation, Rhetoric and Religion in the Twenty-First Century engages with religious discourses and issues that continue to shape public life in the United States.

This collection of essays centralizes the study of religious persuasion and pluralism, considers religion’s place in U.S. society, and expands the study of rhetoric and religion in generative ways. The volume showcases a wide range of religious traditions and challenges the very concepts of rhetoric and religion. The book’s eight essays explore African American, Buddhist, Christian, Indigenous, Islamic, and Jewish rhetoric and discuss the intersection of religion with feminism, race, and queer rhetoric--along with offering reflections on how to approach religious traditions through research and teaching. In addition, the volume includes seven short interludes in which some of the field’s most accomplished scholars recount their experiences exploring religious rhetorics and invite readers to engage these exigent lines of inquiry.

By featuring these diverse religious perspectives, Rhetoric and Religion in the Twenty-First Century complicates the field’s emphasis on Western, Hellenistic, and Christian ideologies. The collection also offers teachers of writing and rhetoric a range of valuable approaches for preparing today’s students for public citizenship in our religiously diverse global context.

Michael-John DePalma, professor of English and director of professional writing and rhetoric at Baylor University, is the author of Sacred Rhetorical Education in 19th Century America: Austin Phelps at Andover Theological Seminary. He is also coeditor of Mapping Christian Rhetorics: Connecting Conversations, Charting New Territories.

Paul Lynch, associate professor of English at Saint Louis University, is the author of After Pedagogy: The Experience of Teaching and coeditor with Nathaniel Rivers of Thinking with Bruno Latour in Rhetoric and Composition (SIU Press).

Jeff Ringer is an associate professor of rhetoric, writing, and linguistics at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. He is the author of Vernacular Christian Rhetoric and Civil Discourse: The Religious Creativity of Evangelical Student Writers and coeditor of Mapping Christian Rhetorics.