University of Connecticut Masthead Logo OpenCommons@UConn Doctoral Dissertations University of Connecticut Graduate School 4-23-2019 Euromodernity's Undertone: On Reconceptualizing Political Speech Derefe Chevannes University of Connecticut - Storrs, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://opencommons.uconn.edu/dissertations Recommended Citation Chevannes, Derefe, "Euromodernity's Undertone: On Reconceptualizing Political Speech" (2019). Doctoral Dissertations. 2100. https://opencommons.uconn.edu/dissertations/2100 Euromodernity’s Undertone: On Reconceptualizing Political Speech Derefe Kimarley Chevannes, PhD University of Connecticut, 2019 Abstract This dissertation contends speech is indispensable to politics. It begins with Aristotle, whose conception of political speech grounds our modern understanding. I argue the Aristotelian position is colonizing insofar as it essentializes speech as sound. The consequence is that speech becomes phonocentric, privileging a particular mode of communication. This raises the issue of Deaf subjects who engage politics in non-phonocentric ways. That is, their speech is seen in what I contend is a visual vernacular. Subsequently, I turn to the issue of race. If Deaf subjects raise questions about what it means to speak, Black subjects, who speak audibly and are still unheard, raise a correspondent question: What does it mean to be heard? Within Euromodernity, I contend political speech becomes essentialized and racialized. Here, particular human beings (whites) are deemed as deserving of being heard, while others (Blacks) are silenced and thus, rendered speechless. In response to these conditions, I argue Black and Deaf subjects do speak and their speech challenges existing hegemonic, colonized forms. Black and Deaf political speech allow for the creation of Black and Deaf lifeworlds, an articulation of their own ways of existing in the social world. The result is a project actualizing freedom. Ultimately, I posit a creolizing of political speech, a mixing of Deaf and Black existential articulations, such that what engenders is a reconceptualizing of political speech towards a meeting of wills, ideas, and ways of being, grounded in generality. Under such a project, political lives and futures for the colonized emerge. i | P a g e Euromodernity’s Undertone: On Reconceptualizing Political Speech Derefe Kimarley Chevannes B.A., Northwestern College, 2010 M.Sc., University of the West Indies, Mona, 2014 M.A., University of Connecticut, 2017 A Dissertation Submitted in Partial Fulfilment of the Requirements for the Doctor of Philosophy at the University of Connecticut 2019 ii | P a g e Copyright by Derefe Kimarley Chevannes 2019 iii | P a g e APPROVAL PAGE Doctor of Philosophy Dissertation Euromodernity’s Undertone: On Reconceptualizing Political Speech Presented by Derefe Kimarley Chevannes, B.A., M.Sc., M.A., Major Advisor_________________________________________________________________ Jane Anna Gordon Associate Advisor_______________________________________________________________ Jeffrey R. Dudas Associate Advisor_______________________________________________________________ Lewis R. Gordon Associate Advisor_______________________________________________________________ Michael E. Morrell Associate Advisor_______________________________________________________________ Frederick I. Lee iv | P a g e Acknowledgements In my more formative years, my journey to political science, as a discipline, was set in motion by an inexplicable drive to engage in politics. I was less concerned with partisanship, though it is a no less political matter. It was ideas that captured my interest. Ideas about how human beings could live: the rights and the wrongs, the permissible and the impermissible. This interest developed into a vocation. Yet, at every step of the way, I have been a benefactor of my family’s unflinching love, support, and guidance, as I embarked off the beaten path and approached the unfamiliar. It makes sense, then, that this is where my acknowledgements open. To my mother, Winsome Elizabeth Walters, you have been my rock. You love me, so much so you would follow me into the abyss of political thought, not because you share my peculiar interests, but simply because your interest was, and continues to be, me. A greater, better mother I could not have had. This dissertation is for you, dearest mommy, for there would be no dissertation without you. Fittingly, my dissertation is about the right to speak, in the broadest sense. Your barefooted labor spoke for my sister and me when we needed a voice. To you, I voice my undying love. To my sister, Kerry-Ann Shakeria Chevannes-Graham, the apple of my eye. You set this path before me. You introduced me to the fruits of education. I saw you achieve like no one could; I saw you overcome in ways previously unimaginable. You are dignity personified. You taught me to love knowledge and you inspired me to attain it in the highest of quarters. In certified terms, one might say I have; this doctoral dissertation is evidence of that. Thank you for loving me, thank you for your commitment to me, your brother, and your emotional and spiritual mentorship. To you, I offer my heart and all its contents. v | P a g e To my seven-year-old niece, Gabby, or as I call you, ma Gabz, I love you dearly. This dissertation is a gift to you. Let it symbolize your ability to accomplish anything, to dream radically, and may it show you the currency of inspiration. Know you walk in the footprints of moral giants; your great grandmother, grandmother, and mother are quintessential examples. I look forward to your future, knowing too well that your precocious, curious ways unavoidably mean you will surpass me in leaps and bounds. To Aunty, Althea Leiba-Lewis, I love you. You were an early supporter of mine. You have sacrificed so much for me to be here. You laughed with me and you have cried with me. I have reached this far because you carried me the distance, financially and emotionally. You are biologically my aunt, but only few would know you are like a second mother. To you, I offer my sincerest kiss of thanks. I also want to thank my grandmothers, Elieth Murray, affectionately known as “Mama” and Veronica Lewis, known lovingly as “Grandma.” Mama, it would take two generations after you to achieve this feat, this honor. You built the ground on which it was possible for me to stand. You are my timeless angel, always looking out for me. Without your guidance, sacrifice, and love, this family would be poorer; I would be infinitely less. I, no, we, owe you everything. Grandma, you offered me love and comfort. I love you and I thank you for all you have done for my sister and me. Without you, we would have struggled with heavier loads. You stood with us, though oceans stood between us. Thank you. I also want to thank the rest of my family, you know yourselves: Bryan, CJ, Fretdem, Yvette, Sandra, Sonny, Tracey, and Jessica. Thanks for keeping me sane, humble, and ever so grateful for your love and support. To my friends, Guerda Nandu, I love you eternally. Here’s to many more years of trusted friendship. Thank you for answering your phone whenever I needed someone to talk to you. To Emily Dolan-Gierer, Brett Busch, Arpita Mandal, Kenrick-Alexander vi | P a g e Sharpe, and Genny Dorgan, you all have shown me so much love. You are family now. I love you each, differently, but all wholly. To my colleagues. Gregory Doukas, thank you so much for your steadfast friendship. You teach me how to be a better person. You are a constant presence and a radiant light of hope, vivacity, and kind-heartedness. Tom Meagher, bredda, American in citizenship, but Jamaican in spirit. Thank you, sir. Your maturity, in the philosophical sense, inspires me, time and time again. I look forward to the many fruitful years ahead, as I call you a faithful colleague. Dana Miranda, duppy, you have shown me such gentle care and it brings joy to my heart knowing that we did this together. Thank you for your tried and true friendship. Here’s to the many decades ahead for laughs and enthralling conversations. Alyssa Webb, my person, you are mine and I am yours. Thank you for your blue couch, that air mattress, the projector, and all the spaces we spent learning about each other and loving each other as we learn. I love you. I also want to mention the love and support of my other colleagues, political scientists and philosophers alike, Erica MacDonald, Carolyn Conway, Brooks Kirchgassner, Darian Spearman, Taylor Tate and many others. You all made me laugh and live as we worked tirelessly together—thank you. Thank you to my dissertation committee members. Fred Lee, thank you for our refreshing chats. I appreciate your laidback, chill, down-to-earth attitude. You were always so approachable and quite giving, too. Your humility and intellect are treasured, Fred— thank you, friend. Michael Morrell, you have been so tremendously supportive of me and my project from the outset. My many appreciations for being so gracious and true in your interactions with me. Looking forward to seeing you at conferences and reminiscing about my good ole grad school days! Jeff Dudas, you made me fall in love with Public Law (Law & Society). You are special to me for a host of reasons, all of which I won’t elaborate here. But let me say, at the very least, I am so ecstatic to have you vii | P a g e as my secondary advisor; you have an uncanny ability to make me laugh and your quaint Ohioan drawl amuses me without fail. Also, you have been a public and private champion of mine. You saw potential in me, when it was often unknown to me. Jeff, you are the consummate professional, a gifted teacher, and a kindred soul. I am lucky to have known and worked alongside you and I eagerly anticipate our continued conversations in the years to come! Thank you, my friend.