Lawbreaking Jokers: Tricksters Using Outlaw Discourse

Abstract

In an attempt to enrich Sloop and Ono's (1997) theory of outlaw discourse, this article draws from the more extensive literature on the trickster to demonstrate how the two concepts have a shared heritage. First, the nature of outlaw discourse is reviewed, and then the myth of the trickster is discussed. Following these overviews, the similarities and differences between the two are explained by providing three brief examples of trickster-influenced outlaw discourse that demonstrate the potential for a trickster perspective to enrich the study of certain kinds of outlaw discourse.

Keywords:

• Rhetorical Criticism
• Rhetorical Theory

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Sarah Hagedorn VanSlette

Sarah Hagedorn VanSlette (Ph.D., Purdue University, 2006) is an assistant professor in the Department of Speech Communication at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville.

Josh Boyd

Josh Boyd (Ph.D., Indiana University, 1998) is an associate professor in the Brian Lamb School of Communication at Purdue University.