Enabling Spaces: A Rhetorical Exploration of Women Writing in Community
| Main Author: | |
|---|---|
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
University of Cincinnati / OhioLINK
2019
|
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ucin15535133573856 |
| id |
ndltd-OhioLink-oai-etd.ohiolink.edu-ucin15535133573856 |
|---|---|
| record_format |
oai_dc |
| spelling |
ndltd-OhioLink-oai-etd.ohiolink.edu-ucin155351335738562021-08-03T07:09:47Z Enabling Spaces: A Rhetorical Exploration of Women Writing in Community Boehr, Christiane Comparative Literature Women Writing Groups Communal Advocacy Sites Developing Voice Writing for Change Feminist Holding Environment Feminist Rhetoric <p><i>Enabling Spaces: A Rhetorical Exploration of Women Writing in Community</i> is a qualitative study of women writing together in a gendered core writing class at a non-profit community writing center called Women Writing for (a) Change®. This study explores how diverse women experience and value rhetorical practices and surroundings as they write and collaborate in a gendered group. The study illuminates how women view and bring to life feminist principles and guidelines implemented to support personal growth and change, in the self and in writing. Using a feminist relational approach grounded in participant observation of two consecutive course terms of fifteen weeks in total and the voice-centered analyses of semi-structured interviews, this study explores how these practices and contextual dimensions help and hinder women in developing their confidence, voice, and personal growth. While paying specific research attention to the stories of women who have survived traumatic experiences, <i>Enabling Spaces,</i> reveals that aspects of environment, audience, and change hold relevance towards empowerment and change across all participants.</p><p>The study shows that the perception of safety connects with ritualized, multi-sensory interactions in a women-only writing environment. Specifically, rituals provide vulnerable women with a needed sense of structure and bonding, helping them to situate themselves in the sheltering boundaries of a gendered group. Findings foreground the importance of engaged listening and collaborative practices in creating a growth-fostering environment where women can build the trust to share their life stories. The cross-case analyses demonstrate that even women who initially felt skeptical, alienated, or restricted by guidelines to provide feedback and implemented ritualized acts, such as marking the writing circle as a safe space and symbolizing one’s right to speak by holding a speaking stone, validate these interactions over time as a recognizable structure and enactment of feminist values. Findings show that guided collaborative practices support an atmosphere of mutual empowerment and the assumption of goodwill among participants. <i>Enabling Spaces</i> also discusses potential limitations to inclusion and growth. In conclusion, the study illuminates the dynamic and intricate interconnectedness between women’s need and ability for change and their personal views of feminism, purpose for writing, self-value, and respect for difference.</p><p>Exploring the different layers of women’s own experiences with collaborative rhetorical practices and contextual dimensions, <i>Enabling Spaces</i> enriches the field’s understanding of writing as an embodied, social, and political act. This study expands the research on extracurricular writing communities and emphasizes the eminent role of gendered communal groups in providing the space and support in excavating silenced voices and making them heard.</p> 2019-06-07 English text University of Cincinnati / OhioLINK http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ucin15535133573856 http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ucin15535133573856 unrestricted This thesis or dissertation is protected by copyright: all rights reserved. It may not be copied or redistributed beyond the terms of applicable copyright laws. |
| collection |
NDLTD |
| language |
English |
| sources |
NDLTD |
| topic |
Comparative Literature Women Writing Groups Communal Advocacy Sites Developing Voice Writing for Change Feminist Holding Environment Feminist Rhetoric |
| spellingShingle |
Comparative Literature Women Writing Groups Communal Advocacy Sites Developing Voice Writing for Change Feminist Holding Environment Feminist Rhetoric Boehr, Christiane Enabling Spaces: A Rhetorical Exploration of Women Writing in Community |
| author |
Boehr, Christiane |
| author_facet |
Boehr, Christiane |
| author_sort |
Boehr, Christiane |
| title |
Enabling Spaces: A Rhetorical Exploration of Women Writing in Community |
| title_short |
Enabling Spaces: A Rhetorical Exploration of Women Writing in Community |
| title_full |
Enabling Spaces: A Rhetorical Exploration of Women Writing in Community |
| title_fullStr |
Enabling Spaces: A Rhetorical Exploration of Women Writing in Community |
| title_full_unstemmed |
Enabling Spaces: A Rhetorical Exploration of Women Writing in Community |
| title_sort |
enabling spaces: a rhetorical exploration of women writing in community |
| publisher |
University of Cincinnati / OhioLINK |
| publishDate |
2019 |
| url |
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ucin15535133573856 |
| work_keys_str_mv |
AT boehrchristiane enablingspacesarhetoricalexplorationofwomenwritingincommunity |
| _version_ |
1719455338949771264 |