A Companion to African Rhetoric

Segun Ige is visiting assistant professor of English at Howard University. Gilbert Motsaathebe is a research professor at the North-West University. Omedi Ochiengis a teacher of rhetorical theory and criticism; the rhetoric of philosophy; political theory and practice; and aesthetic praxis at Denison University.

Contents

Preface and Acknowledgements

Introduction by Segun Ige

Part I: Conceptualizing African Rhetoric



What is African Rhetoric? The Constitutive Imagination in Olaudah Equiano’s The Interesting Narrative and Other Writings

Omedi Ochieng



Towards an Understanding of African Rhetoric: A Decolonial Approach

Yunana Ahmed



African Oral Tradition: A Twenty-First Century Perspective

Rewai Makamani



Classical Rhetorical Ethics: Implications for African Rhetoric

Segun Ige

Part II: African Political Rhetoric



Real and Imagined: African Union’s 100-Year Construction of Africa (1963-2063)

Segun Ige



A Tale of Two Namibian Political Parties: A Stylistic and Rhetorical Analysis of the 2014 Election Manifestos of SWAPO and DTA Political Parties

Petrina Batholmeus and Jairos Kangira



Alienation in Contemporary African Presidential Rhetoric: Muhammadu Buhari and Biafra Rhetorical Performance

Aliyu Yakubu Abdulkadir

Part III: African Rhetoric, Languages, and Literature



An Afrocentric Approach to Understanding ‘Face’ and the Rhetoric of Collective Identity Busayo Ige
Graphological Strategizing as Solution to Problems of Linguistic Heterogeneity: Translatability and Orality in Written Poetic Discourse of English Expression

Mabel Osakwe



African Rhetoric as an Emergent Subfield: A Review of Literature and Reflections on Critical Issues

Nancy Henaku and Ruby Pappoe



African Rhetoric and Literature: A Journey through Words and Writings

Aaron Smith



Yoruba Chants and Chanting as Rhetorical Devices

Yomi Daramola, Femi Abiodun, and Olusegun Titus



Calypso Poetics: The Rhetoric of Trinidad’s Lingua Franca

Kela Francis



A History of African American Orature, the Badman Hero, and Gangster Rap

Dennis Winston



From a Grubby turf to a dome: Praise Poetry as a rhetorical stratagem in political domain Stanley Madonsela
Rhetoric, Orality and Embryonic Trends in Africa and Beyond: Unpacking the Oratorical Genius of Mbuli

Gilbert Motsaathebe

Part IV: Rhetoric and Religion in Africa



Epistemological Considerations of Religious Rhetoric in Africa: Language, Spirituality, and Incantation Discourse

Rufus O. Adebayo

Index

About the Authors