Rhetorics of Loss

Loss is a disruption of normalcy that lends itself to rhetoric in that it often cannot be mediated through physical action alone. I argue that complex forms of loss are often mediated rhetorically through discourse and symbolic action. This dissertation defines loss as an exigence within a rhetorical situation. As such, loss is a problem in which people employ rhetoric to solve. Ethnographic research for this dissertation was conducted in Chicago’s Latino neighborhoods and among the Latino people who live and work there. Research participants include street gang members from the Almighty Latin King Nation, a chaplain who works at Cook County Corrections, an immigration lawyer, funeral directors, and a boxing coach. Using materialist rhetoric enhanced by theories from the social sciences and legal studies, I present an analysis of loss experienced by these members of the Latino community use rhetoric to understand and mediate complex forms of loss.