Date of Award
Spring 2025
Project Type
Dissertation
Program or Major
English
Degree Name
Doctor of Philosophy
First Advisor
Cristy Beemer
Second Advisor
Christina Ortmeier-Hooper
Third Advisor
Thomas Newkirk
Abstract
The Cloud in the Paper: Toward a Rhetoric of Thich Nhat Hanh is a rhetorical investigation of a large portion of the Zen master Thich Nhat Hanh’s corpus. While Nhat Hanh is a popular figure, and there have been a smattering of people who have brought Nhat Hanh’s work into Composition and Rhetoric, this study is the first in Comp/Rhet to do a book-length in-depth analysis of a large corpus of Nhat Hanh’s writing. The project, in addition to bringing the intricacies of Nhat Hanh’s irenic sensibility to the field, aims to lay the groundwork for further integration of Nhat Hanh’s philosophy and approach into Composition and Rhetoric classrooms. In the project, I unearth signature rhetorical moves Nhat Hanh makes in an effort to build a harmonious society constituted of internally harmonious individual members. These are rhetorical moves I name such as “establishing inescapable oneness,” “establishing inescapable distinction,” “establishing fruitful mutability,” and “establishing collective security,” the latter two moves realized through the transformation of their opposite, negative tendencies. Isolating signature rhetorical moves allows me to build toward a comprehensive Hanhian rhetoric—a “rhetoric of understanding.” As I progress toward an encapsulation of Nhat Hanh’s rhetorical vision, I isolate a plethora of “smaller” constituent rhetorical moves that assist the realization of the overarching ones presented above. The dissertation body chapters (“Interbeing,” “Emotions and Empathy,” “Love to the World”) follow a trajectory similar to the one that Nhat Hanh prescribes for the betterment of global society. They concern themselves first with finding balance within oneself, and between oneself and one’s environment—then, on how to reach accord with others, especially when discord strains that accord. I next show how Nhat Hanh and his followers use the interpersonal warmth, solidarity, and momentum created by compassionate communication in intimate relationships to build a community of practitioners who guide distressing situations to healthy resolutions. Finally, the conclusion considers the implications, pedagogically and societally, for all that’s been learned herein about creating more benevolent ways of being and communicating—intra-personally, interpersonally, and between groups. I leave the reader with a picture of a rhetoric that has begun to change the shape of communication for the benefit of a world that needs it.
Recommended Citation
Morrison, Matthew Alfred, "The Cloud in the Paper: Toward a Rhetoric of Thich Nhat Hanh" (2025). Doctoral Dissertations. 2949.
https://scholars.unh.edu/dissertation/2949