Manifesting a Future for Comparative Rhetoric

Clusivity in Presidential Discourse: A Rhetorical Discourse Analysis of State-of-the-Nation Addresses in Ghana and the United States

“…Here, Critical Discourse Analysis could benefit from this "cultural [basis] of discursive power" (Hum and Lyon, 2013, p. 154). As Mao (2015) argues, it is important for comparative rhetoricians to consider the "historicity, specificity, and incongruity" of rhetorical texts (2014, p. 450). The socio-cultural exigencies that determine rhetorical practices in a Ghanaian context include religion, which also constitutes a critical factor in the analysis of power.…”

“…Rather than pit two presidential rhetorical traditions against each other, the comparative rhetorical approach adopted for this study is intended to "cultivate a mode of thinking that moves away from divides and binaries abstracted from context" by advocating for "nuanced analysis and discursive open-endedness" (Mao et al 2015, p. 240). As Mao et al (2015) Hum and Lyon (2013) that comparative rhetoric should be concerned with "the cultural bases [emphasis added] of discursive power and the ways it privileges some statements and strategies in the production of knowledge and the reproduction of power" (p. 154). The fact that African rhetorical practices have not received much attention in scholarship (unless one includes African American rhetoric) (Hum & Lyon, 2013, p. 161) makes the exploration of rhetorical practices within a specifically Ghanaian context (in addition to an American context) all the more important in this comparative endeavor.…”