MIAMI UNIVERSITY The Graduate School Certificate for Approving the Dissertation We hereby approve the Dissertation of Renea Carol Frey Candidate for the Degree Doctor of Philosophy ______________________________________ James Porter, Director ______________________________________ Katharine Ronald, Reader ______________________________________ Jason Palmeri, Reader _____________________________________ P. Renee Baernstein, Graduate School Representative ABSTRACT SPEAKING TRUTH TO POWER: RECOVERING A RHETORICAL THEORY OF PARRHESIA by Renea C. Frey This dissertation examines the history, genealogy, and application of parrhesia, the rhetorical strategy of speaking truth to power that disrupts the status quo and works to realign power dynamics. Parrhesia is invoked when rhetors act out in ways that are potentially dangerous to their own safety but do so in service of deeply held truth values that may be more important to articulate than the rhetor’s own life or safety. My dissertation provides a framework to understand parrhesiastic acts and contextualize them within a larger social network where such acts serve to create disruptions and fissures within the field of conventional social practice. Beginning with the origins of parrhesia—in classical rhetoric with democracy in 4th century BCE Athens—this work traces the development of parrhesia as a political, philosophical, and religious practice over the next 800 years by examining primary sources (e.g. extant speeches, letters, biblical texts, and classic rhetoric manuals) as well as secondary scholarship and current cross-disciplinary research. Additionally, this dissertation questions how parrhesia is remediated across oral, print, and digital mediums and how distribution and circulation are affected by examining specific moments of transition in methods of delivery, such as the move from oral culture to print in the nineteenth century and the affordances of contemporary digital technologies. To do this I will discuss two extended examples of parrhesia-in-action: the nineteenth century women’s right activist Matilda Gage and the more recent actions of Edward Snowden. Why recover parrhesia? Because parrhesia is an important strategy for marginalized and otherwise silenced groups who must often transgress social boundaries in order to speak out at all. This rhetorical theory provides a framework to understand, analyze, and name parrhesiastic acts that disrupt conventional power structures to enact social change and to trace the networked effects of these acts of resistance. SPEAKING TRUTH TO POWER: RECOVERING A RHETORICAL THEORY OF PARRHESIA A DISSERTATION Presented to the Faculty of Miami University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Department of English by Renea C. Frey The Graduate School Miami University Oxford, Ohio 2015 Dissertation Director: James Porter © Renea Carol Frey 2015 TABLE OF CONTENTS List of Figures ……………………………………………………………………………….… iv Dedication ………………………………………………………………………………….…... v Acknowledgements …………………………………………………………………………….. vi Introduction Chapter 1: Definition, Scope, and Scholarship: An Overview of Parrhesia ………………….…. 1 Section One: Oral Cultural and Parrhesia: Historic Perspectives ………………...…….… 24 Chapter 2: Historicizing Parrhesia: Athenian Democracy and Philosophy ………………....… 28 Chapter 3: Beyond Athens: Parrhesia and the Roman Republic ………………………...…….. 51 Chapter 4: Parrhesia and Autocracy: Roman Empire and Early Christian Eras ….…………..... 70 Section Two: Rhetorical Theory of Parrhesia ……………………………………...……...... 86 Chapter 5: Tracing Disruption: A Rhetorical Theory of Parrhesia …………………………..… 89 Section Three: Print Culture and Parrhesia ………………………………………………. 117 Chapter 6: Print Culture and Publics: The Rise of Women’s Literacy ……………………….. 121 Chapter 7: Matilda Gage: A Nineteenth Century Parrhesiastes ……………………….…….... 128 Section Four: Parrhesia in Digital Spaces ……………………..…………………………... 143 Chapter 8: Distribution and Circulation in Publics of Surveillance…………………………... 147 Chapter 9: Truth Telling in Digital Environments: Edward Snowden and the NSA …………. 160 Conclusion Chapter 10: Implications, Applications, and Conclusions ………………………………….… 185 Appendix ……………………………………………………………………………………… 194 Works Cited …………………………………………………………………………………... 198 iii LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1 …………………………………………………………………………………..……… 1 Figure 2 ………………………………………………………………………………………… 91 Figure 3 ………………………………………………………………………………………… 92 Figure 4 ………………………………………………………………………………………… 98 Figure 5 …………………………………………………………………………………..…… 102 Figure 6 …………………………………………………………………………………..…… 109 Figure 7 …………………………………………………………………………………..…… 133 Figure 8 …………………………………………………………………………………..…… 138 Figure 9 …………………………………………………………………………………..…… 172 Figure 10 ………………………………………………………………………………..…….. 177 Figure 11 …………………………………………………………………………………..….. 188 iv DEDICATION I dedicate this dissertation to my family— My husband Robert Dorsey, whose constant support and interest in my project made it possible to think through my ideas at the beginning (even in the middle of the night) and his invaluable proofreading skills helped me polish those ideas at the end… My parents, Beatrice and Kenny Frey, who watched my kids, made sure I didn’t starve, gave me a quiet place to work, and cheered me on through many days and nights of research and writing…. My children, Maitreya, Aeliana, and Branneth, who inspired me to start this work in the first place, who were patient with how absent I was from their lives at times, and for their many quick visits to my upstairs office to offer love and support… Without your support and encouragement this work would not have been possible. v ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This dissertation, like all large research projects, is the result of an entire network of scholars and mentors who supported, encouraged, and guided this work from before it began until its completion. James Porter, my dissertation committee chair and director, has been invaluable in this project, which first began as a short two-page assignment for his Rhetoric History and Theory course at Miami University, wherein I first stumbled upon the term parrhesia. His prompt, direct, and deeply thought-provoking feedback, along with his consistent confidence in and enthusiasm for my work, has made this project possible and even enjoyable. I am grateful to Jason Palmeri, who sympathetically listened to my various apprehensions and offered solid advice on both my work and my process, as well as the reassurance that I would, in fact, make it through. I thank Katherine Ronald for her expertise, good humor, wisdom, reassurance, and friendship, and for agreeing to take on another PhD candidate to mentor when timing and professional exigencies made that a potentially taxing commitment. I appreciate Renee Baernstein, whose historic expertise and willingness to read and thoughtfully comment upon research from a disparate field of study has led me to think about my work differently, and to frame my writing in ways that might be interesting and useful to scholars beyond the field of Composition and Rhetoric. I am grateful to Miami University and the English Department for giving me the opportunity to pursue my studies and for the many brilliant scholars with whom I have had the privilege to work during my time in the PhD program. Every course expanded my knowledge and allowed me the intellectual freedom to pursue what interested me most, a process that culminated in this dissertation. This work would not be possible without the invaluable knowledge gained from faculty including LuMing Mao, Heidi McKee, Michele Simmons, John Heyda, Cynthia Lewiecki-Wilson, and all other faculty and staff at Miami University with whom I have had the rewarding experience of working. I also want to thank the graduate students in the English department at Miami, whose ideas, conversations, and feedback helped support this project and make it possible. The collegial atmosphere at Miami made this work rewarding and enjoyable and I am grateful for the willingness of everyone in sharing their thoughts, expertise, and support with fellow graduate students. And a special thanks to my good friend Monica Miller, who took this graduate school adventure at the same time, though in a different place, than I did. Her advice and reassurance supported me through many rough times, and her visits offered a friend to work alongside, as well as one to have fun with once the work was finished. I look forward to the coming years with such intelligent, creative colleagues, wherever we may all find ourselves. vi Chapter 1 Definition, Scope, and Scholarship: An Overview of Parrhesia Figure 1 The anonymous Tank Man faces down a row of tanks This famous photograph1 depicts the anonymous protester who came to be know as “Tank Man,” an unarmed Chinese citizen who stepped in front of a row of tanks and stopped their forward progress at great risk to himself. This event occurred on June 5, 1989, the day after the Tiananmen Square Massacre where the Chinese government killed or arrested thousands of pro-democracy protesters.2 Though journalists were prohibited from covering any of the crackdowns on the protests, journalists like Jeff Widener, Charlie Cole, and Stuart Franklin managed to capture compelling images of Tank Man as he faced down a line of tanks the day after the massacre, and later smuggle this film out of China under the threat of arrest and imprisonment. In April of 1998, Time magazine would include Tank Man as one of the top one hundred most