A Feminist, Multimodal Heuristic for Analyzing Knitted Rhetoric

A SHARPER POINT: A FEMINIST, MULTIMODAL HEURISTIC FOR ANALYZING KNITTED RHETORIC Heather Elizabeth Pristash A Dissertation Submitted to the Graduate College of Bowling Green State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY December 2014 Committee: Sue Carter Wood, Advisor Vibha Bhalla Graduate Faculty Representative Kristine L. Blair Radhika Gajjala ii ABSTRACT Sue Carter Wood, Advisor This dissertation explores needlework and its use as a rhetorically significant meaning- making tool. A term for this phenomenon—“rhetorical needlework”—is proposed and defined through the application of work from several authors, most particularly Robert Herrick. While rhetorical needlework has been the subject of study by many scholars in rhetoric, it has most often been studied as a historical phenomenon. However, there is a great deal of modern craft that fits this definition of rhetorical needlework; thus far, however, it has not had the depth of scholarly attention given to historical work. This dissertation seeks to help remedy this problem. In analyzing this modern rhetorical needlework, this dissertation argues that several areas of knowledge must be combined, including craft, multimodality, and feminist rhetoric. These areas of knowledge are combined through the generation of a heuristic, with which modern rhetorical needlework can then be analyzed. In creating that heuristic, several areas of work are reviewed and synthesized into four main categories: rhetorical, craft, feminist, and multimodal. Pieces consulted in this literature review come from Macdonald, Berners-Lee, Humphreys, Royster and Kirsch, Goggin, Parker, Dasler Johnson, Bratich and Brush, Shipka, Bateman, Glenn, Cixous, Greer, Mattingly, Palmeri, and others. The resulting heuristic consists of thirteen questions that help in reaching a deeper, multifaceted understanding of specific pieces of rhetorical needlework. After it has been generated, the heuristic is then applied to a case study: the RedSweaters project, which sought to memorialize each fallen United States serviceperson in Iraq with a miniature red sweater. Using the heuristic helps reveal both why this work succeeds and, iii potentially, some of the reasons that it went unfinished. Conversely, this application also helps suggest further ways that the heuristic might be developed and applied in future work. iv DEDICATION This is for Ellie, Jennie Ann, Edna, Lada Jane, Katherine, Ann, Kathy, Julieann, Tina, and all the many other crafty women of the heritage of making that I’m blessed to come from. This is for Lindy, Debbie, Amy, Jillian, Annie, Cat, Elizabeth, Meg, Annie, Barbara, Sally, Iris, Maggie, Ann, Norah, Anna, Lucy, and all the many others who have taught me something about knitting, my chosen form of needlework. This is for Andi, Elizabeth, Adrienne, Em, Brittany, Sarah, Susan, Lora, Christine, and all the many others who have shared friendship, good fellowship, knowledge, tears, laughter, and joy with me as we’ve stitched (and bitched) together. This is for Nina, Lisa, Cat, Betsy, Katherine, Debbie, Mandy, Leanne, Stephanie, Mark, Freddie, Craig, Gerard, Oliver, Casey, Rachael, Marianne, and all the many others who have created challenging, interesting, and thought-provoking “sharper points” of their own through rhetorical knitting. Finally, this is for all my fellow crafters. If you’ve ever known the satisfaction and the power of making something meaningful with your own hands, this is for you. v ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The flaws of this manuscript are my own, but I owe any virtues it may have to a cast of hundreds. Every bit of my graduate work played into this in one way or another. I must particularly thank all the faculty and fellow students in BGSU’s Rhetoric and Writing Program and Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies Department with whom I studied. Every one of you helped this project in some way. In particular, Beth Church and Elizabeth Fleitz have continued their assistance to the present day, providing crucial insight and encouragement. To reach back further, thanks are also due to the graduate faculty with whom I studied at the University of Dayton, particularly Miriamne Krummel, Steve Wilhoit, and, especially, Elizabeth Wardle, without whom I would not have started on the road to the PhD. The committee of my project was the perfect group of scholars to understand and help develop this work; the fact that I enjoyed my discussions with them so much was a welcome bonus. Many thanks to Vibha Bhalla, Kristine Blair, and Radhika Gajjala for their insight and support. The most thanks, though, have to go to Sue Carter Wood; as my advisor, she provided helpful insights and unflappable calm, both of which were deeply necessary. All of my students, past and present, deserve my thanks, as they’ve taught me at least as much as I’ve ever taught them, and almost certainly more. Special thanks must go to my Advanced Composition classes, my Women’s Literature classes, and the particularly patient classes I’ve had in Fall 2014 (as this project has been in its last stages). I have received so much encouragement from everyone at Western Wyoming Community College that I simply wish to thank the institution as a whole. I am particularly grateful to my Humanities Division and English Department colleagues for their constant interest vi and enthusiasm. Special thanks are due to a few WWCC folks in particular: Cecily Brunelli, Nish Ferrero, Christine Garbett, Dana Pertermann, and Maik Pertermann. Also, Doug Bunn, who has been my Division Chair during this project’s final stages, has been a constant source of support and assistance. I don’t know if this project would ever have been finished without his help. My husband, family, and friends have been crucial sources of motivation and support through the years in which this project came to fruition. If I were to list all of them and give them the acknowledgement that they each truly deserve, this section would be larger than the rest of the manuscript. To every one of them, my love and thanks. I do have to give specific thanks to my parents, however. My father, Joe, who likes to think of himself as “the designated bad example,” has been a phenomenally good example for me in many ways. He’s taught me to find humor in almost any situation, no matter how difficult, and to be willing to make mistakes…lessons easily as vital to the completion of a project such as this as any I’ve ever learned in school. His unconditional love and support, even at times when we don’t see eye-to-eye, is a crucial part of this and every project. Finally, this project would not exist without my mother, Ellie. All three major identities that inform this work—feminism, craft, and teaching—originated from her. Further, she equipped me with tenacity, intellectual curiosity, and a real sense of joy in learning and sharing. Her love for and belief in me have been bedrocks of my existence, and they have served as the energy that kept this project moving when I was close to giving up on it. I’m lucky to know her and to count her as a friend, and I’m blessed to be her daughter. vii TABLE OF CONTENTS Page CHAPTER ONE. CASTING ON: UNDERSTANDING NEEDLEWORK AS RHETORICAL .. 1 The Case for Contemporary Needlework………………………………………………… 9 Research Questions……………………………………………………………………… 12 Scope…………………………………………………………………………………….. 13 Positioning………………………………………………………………………………. 13 Feminism……………...………………………………………………………… 14 Craft………………………..……………………………………………………. 15 Teaching……………………………………………………………...……….… 17 Case Study……………………………………………………………………………..... 18 Project Overview and Chapter Outline………………………………………………….. 21 CHAPTER TWO. “UNDER THE FENCE”: REVIEWING THE LITERATURE...................... 22 Knitting Culture and Modern Knitting………………………………………………….. 23 History and Overview…………………………………………………………… 23 Section Summary……………………………………………………...… 35 Practices and Practitioners……………………………………………………..... 35 Section Summary……………………………………………………...… 38 Craftivism……………………………………………………………………..… 38 Section Summary………………………………………………………... 45 viii Feminist Rhetoric and Feminist Rhetorical Practices…………………………………… 45 Identification and Definition…………………………………………………….. 45 Section Summary………………………………………………………... 50 Application and Examples………………………………………………………. 50 Section Summary………………………………………………………... 54 Multimodality…………………………………………………………………………… 54 Multimodal Composition and Rhetoric……………………………………….… 54 Section Summary………………………………………………...……… 61 Multimodal Studies of Needlework Practices…………………………………… 61 Section Summary………………...……………………………………… 67 Chapter Summary……………………………………………………………………….. 68 CHAPTER THREE. “CATCH THE SHEEP”: A HEURISTIC FOR ANALYZING KNITTED RHETORIC.................................................................................................................................... 70 The Usefulness of Heuristics……………………………………………………………. 70 The Heuristic………………………………………………………………………….…. 72 Rhetorical Concerns……………………………………………………………... 72 Craft Concerns………………………………………………………………...… 75 Multimodal Concerns…………………………………………………………… 78 Feminist Concerns………………………………………………………………. 83 Chapter Summary……………………………………………………………………..… 89 CHAPTER FOUR. “BACK WE COME”: ANALYZING THE REDSWEATERS PROJECT AS RHETORICAL NEEDLEWORK…………………………………………..………………...… 91 The Case Study: The RedSweaters Project……………...…………………………...…. 91 ix Early Project History…………………………………………………………..… 92 Project Materials and Execution……………………………………………….... 94 Beginning of Public Project and Installations…………………………………...

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