Rhetorical Hermeneutics After the Posthuman Turn

This dissertation revisits Steven Mailloux's (1989) concept of rhetorical hermeneutics, according to which persuasion always conditions our interpretive practices. Seeking to bring Mailloux's insights into conversation with rhetorical theory's posthuman turn, my inquiry begins with the following questions: How might posthuman theories of meaning-making allow us to extend or reimagine rhetoric's relation to interpretation? How might recourse to rhetorical hermeneutics help us understand posthuman rhetoric? Can we indeed theorize a posthuman rhetorical hermeneutics? If so, what does it entail? What are its affordances? What are its contexts? How does it affect our understanding of rhetorical situations and the artifacts produced within them? To answer those questions, I consider George Kennedy's (1992) influential proposal that rhetoric is energy and merge his ideas with Jakob von Uexküll's (2010) analysis of animal sign systems. From there, I bring biosemiotics, material semiotics, and material rhetorics, three subfields from various disciplines, into dialogue with one another. Further, following similar moves by Hayles (2017) and Romele (2919; 2020), I attempt to translate our understanding of nature's meaning-making processes into an understanding of digital meaning-making processes. I also examine Charging Bull, a popular statue located near the New York Stock Exchange. Building on the ecological models of rhetoric proposed by Edbauer (2005) and Boyle (2018), I explore the history of the sculpture by tracing the ceaseless interplay of persuasive and interpretative practices that maintain its rhetorical ecology. In sum, this dissertation proffers a broad theory of posthuman rhetorical hermeneutics