World-Sharing Rhetoric: A Framework for Inviting Participation in Symbolic Worlds

This paper introduces the concept of world-sharing rhetoric as a theoretical framework for understanding rhetorical practices that invite participation in pre-existing symbolic or material worlds. Building on and extending traditions such as vernacular and field rhetoric, Burkean identification, Bormann’s symbolic convergence theory, and Foss’s invitational rhetoric, the study proposes a model of rhetorical engagement that centres not on persuasion, but on invitation, cohabitation, and collaborative reinterpretation. Drawing from examples including fanfiction, grassroots memory writing, and adaptive spatial storytelling, world-sharing rhetoric describes communicative acts in which audiences are encouraged to emotionally, symbolically, and materially inhabit worlds that are both inherited and renewed. The paper situates this rhetorical mode within the broader cultural landscape of remix and participatory practices, while differentiating it from concepts such as immersion and worldbuilding. It proposes a tripartite analysis – logos, pathos, and ethos – to examine how world-sharing functions through narrative coherence, affective investment, and communal trust. Ultimately, the paper argues that rhetorical success in these contexts is not measured by persuasive outcome, but by the creation of conditions for shared presence, continuity, and reimagining.