Sacando la Lengua in Rhetorical Theory and Criticism

This contribution to the forum argues for the need to center “language” as a fundamental axis of power relations in Rhetoric, Politics & Culture. I argue for (1) a dialectical understanding of “language” as a source of invention that is, at the same time, its product, and (2) a sustained interrogation of dominant assumptions about language(s), (“English,” “Spanish,” or “Navajo”) and how they shape contemporary rhetorical theory and criticism. Sacando la lengua will help us to illuminate the sometimes covert but continuous implication of the rhetorical production of “languages” with white, North-American privilege.