Barbara Jordan's speeches, 1974-1995: Ethics, public religion and jurisprudence

This dissertation retrieves and analyzes the speeches of Barbara Jordan from 1974-1995. The methodology is interdisciplinary, using hermeneutics, Kenneth Burke's rhetorical criticism, and Victor Turner's theory of liminality to disclose a synthesis of themes. Beyond their historical significance, her speeches create a format for the intersection of ethics, public religion, and jurisprudence. At this point of convergence, the limitations of human endeavor become apparent and moral transcendency becomes possible. Moreover, Jordan's speeches posit the hope of a flourishing national community of mutually obligated sectors of society. The dissertation juxtaposes Jordan's theories to those of her contemporaries: James Baldwin, Abraham Heschel, Audre Lorde and Thurgood Marshall.; Jordan enters public life as the nation contends with moral, political, and cultural crises. Her solutions to the continuing dilemmas of American public life are offered at a time when the oratorical giants of the 1960s, Martin Luther King, Jr., Malcolm X and the Kennedys had been assassinated. The goals of the Great Society and the Civil Rights movement had not been met, and civic myths no longer comported with emerging pluralities, student unrest, and the war in Viet Nam. In response, Jordan's discourse emphasizes commonalities rather than difference. She envisions a nation and community of nations distinguished by a diverse and responsible citizenry, moral rectitude and shared values. Moreover, she urges the citizenry to reaffirm the ideals of the nation's founders. Toward that end, Jordan emphasizes, public virtue, public service, public religion and justice as mediating discourses in the political realm.; This dissertation situates Jordan's speeches among ongoing discussions about the context and configuration of North American communities in the 21st century. In her speeches, Jordan emerges as a woman who views public life as an opportunity to share the very best that the human spirit can conceive. That is her legacy to ethics, public religion and jurisprudence.