Abstract

This project introduces the concept of a lesbian rhetoric to the Speech Communication field. It offers a thematic analysis of 177 lesbian coming out stories. ;First, I explore a rhetoric of the closet. I show how a closet is revealed through a rhetoric as expository. Such a rhetoric uncovers discursive operations of terror that comprise and produce fear, negation, detachment, duplicity, and ostracism to closet peoples. These themes of terror are evidenced in the implicit content of coming out stories. The stories show how terror is systematically produced, circulated, and enforced to destroy an authentic self and authentic selves. An authentic self is encouraged and expected to be concealed while an inauthentic self is revealed. In this way, a rhetoric of the closet is a rhetoric of non-being. Such a rhetoric is used to destroy a self and communities of selves. ;Once a rhetoric of the closet is revealed, I explore how a rhetoric of coming out functions as constitutive of an authentic self and of communities of selves. As such, an act of coming out is demonstrated to be a rhetorical act. ;Coming out rhetoric, as exemplified in lesbian coming out stories, demonstrates how a lesbian rhetoric functions. A lesbian rhetoric functions as: Expository--a coming out reveals the discursive operations of a closet; Dialectical--the opposing tensions between seclusion and disclosure are invoked and, at times, released in an act of coming out; Reflexive--a rhetor shows keen awareness of an authentic self as emergent in an act of coming out; Relational--a rhetor uses coming out rhetoric to establish and maintain authentic and communal relations; and Transformative--an act of coming out is intended to affect change within, between and among interactants. ;These functions of rhetoric are instrumental in advancing one's understanding and appreciation of a lesbian rhetoric