Examining Music With A Feminist Rhetorical Lens
From Beyoncé’s live performance at the 2014 MTV Video Music Awards to the Super Bowl 50 Halftime Show, there have been strong reactions to the messages about social and political content presented in her music, videos, and live performances. Through her music, Beyoncé has created a riveting and powerful rhetorical artifact that established a discussion surrounding cultural and social issues—and whether this is an unintentional or purposeful act is up to the audience to decide. This national discussion sparked my own questions about how can rhetoric be used in visual performances or music videos to persuade an audience or perhaps even teach an audience.
This central question about rhetorical artifacts in pop culture served as the catalyst for this research. The goal of this project is to examine how Beyoncé's music videos not only serve as a rhetorical artifact but also how the artifact contributes to feminist rhetorical theory. By using Kenneth Burke's Dramatistic Pentad and analyzing with feminist rhetorical lens, this project explores the rhetoric of Beyoncé's music videos and visual performances so we can understand how unconventional rhetorical devices influence audiences.
