
Disinventions
Rhetorics of Undocumented Immigration in the Deterrence Era
José Manuel Cortez
Disinventions
Rhetorics of Undocumented Immigration in the Deterrence Era
José Manuel Cortez
“Disinventions illuminates a contradiction at the heart of anti- and decolonial rhetorical studies: that the search for an outside to colonial violence reinscribes the binaries it seeks to undermine. Instead, Cortez invites rhetoricians to dwell with the aporias and atopias endemic to Western colonial orders and find in them new forms of meaningful, ethical life together. This challenging, evocative book is well worth reading, especially for those invested in a politics—and rhetorical studies—otherwise.”
- Description
- Reviews
- Bio
- Subjects
Disinventions examines the cultural, political, and rhetorical effects of US deterrence practices, exploring how discourse on immigration overlooks subjects who have always been a part of the borderlands but are rarely included in migration narratives. He highlights the failings of decolonial methods and discourse to fully capture and represent marginalized voices, including Black, Central American, and queer subjects. And he develops an ethics of unconditional hospitality embracing undocumented migrants. By drawing on the concept of “atopias” and what he calls “sites of disinvention” to unearth new forms of politics, Cortez suggests we can transcend the limits of decolonization discourse and humanize undocumented immigrants.
This challenging and engaging work should appeal to scholars and students of rhetorical studies, Latinx studies, and American studies.
“Disinventions illuminates a contradiction at the heart of anti- and decolonial rhetorical studies: that the search for an outside to colonial violence reinscribes the binaries it seeks to undermine. Instead, Cortez invites rhetoricians to dwell with the aporias and atopias endemic to Western colonial orders and find in them new forms of meaningful, ethical life together. This challenging, evocative book is well worth reading, especially for those invested in a politics—and rhetorical studies—otherwise.”
“Cortez's Disinventions is not only a crucial exploration of the ‘deterrence through prevention’ era of US immigration policy, but it provides a key lens through which we can understand so much about immigration politics in the twenty-first century. Furthermore, Cortez is a master of rhetorical theory, showing his readers that sophisticated theory doesn't have to be sacrificed to produce politically relevant and urgent scholarship. Cortez's work will challenge scholars to think about immigration and rhetoric differently.”
José Manuel Cortez is Assistant Professor of English at the University of Oregon.
Mailing List
Subscribe to our mailing list and be notified about new titles, journals and catalogs.