Razão e revolução: as estratégias retóricas de Sojourner Truth na defesa dos direitos das mulheres em um discurso histórico

Abstract

This dissertation is situated within the research strand of Text and Discourse in the oral and written modalities of the Graduate Program in Portuguese Language Studies at the Pontifical Catholic University of São Paulo. It is grounded in the theoretical assumptions of Rhetoric, New Rhetoric, and gender and race social studies. The study conducts a rhetorical analysis of the historical speech "Ain't I a Woman?" delivered in 1851 in Akron, United States, to an audience primarily composed of white men and women by Sojourner Truth, a black woman who had experienced enslavement. The aim is to examine the effects achieved by Truth's oratorical strength in establishing interconnections between fundamental rhetorical proofs – ethos, logos, and pathos – and gender and race studies. Throughout this rhetorical act, Truth employed a variety of effective techniques to amplify her voice and advocate for equality, questioning and challenging the discriminatory beliefs of patriarchy and slavery that pervaded 19th-century society. The rhetorical force and oratorical skill have consecrated the analyzed speech as a significant historical landmark in the contemporary women's rights movement