Animating a critical rhetoric: On the feeding habits of American empire

Abstract

This article talks about animating a critical rhetoric on the feeding habits of American Empire. It discusses the value of three related metaphors for informing our critical understanding of the relations among rhetoric, social forms, and social processes; moreover, these metaphors establish a vocabulary and imagery through which critical commentary can find a place in the broader community beyond academe. The first of these is that contemporary America is best understood as empire; here it refers to the intricate orchestration of American cultural, political and economic institutions, and to their attendant social practices. Second, it conceives of empire organically, thus, its concern with feeding, with nourishment for perpetuation and growth. Finally, in viewing contemporary America as empire, the concern then turns to the manner in which its feeding habits may best be understood. Here, it turns to pornography. Empire's feeding habits are pornographic; they distort desire and function at the expense of the other.

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