On the Rhetoric of Afrocentricity‪.‬

One of the many current challenges posed to scholarship is that of the historicity of scholarship itself. One manifestation of this challenge can be seen in critical researcher's contention that current interpretations of the ancient world are themselves the product of modern European historical developments and more particularly of certain intellectual events of the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. Since the historical development of Eurocentrism is at the base of most discourse within the American academy, researchers' task should be attentive to transforming ideas and problematic values of the Eurocentric tradition. However, advocacy of critical approaches, which finds one expression through multiculturalism, has failed to recognize the changing nature of a diverse society until the development of Afrocentricity. Afrocentrism, as Molefi Asante conceives of it, challenges the Eurocentric position. In theory, Asante sees Afro-centricity involving the interpretation analysis from the perspective of African people as subjects rather than objects (1983). In practice, Afrocentric principles are used to interpret and explain issues in the search for understanding within the historical context associated with underrepresented groups overlooked for generations. This paper explores the theory of Afrocentricity through a Burkiean analysis utilizing cluster analysis, antithesis, and pentadic analysis. This paper will illustrate the underlying motives of Asante's rhetoric challenging the notion of persuasion between the bipolar opposites of Afrocentrism and Eurocentrism. The purpose of this examination is not to evaluate the theory/ methodology of Afrocentricity, but to illustrate its purpose. Using a traditional rhetorical method does not limit the scope of the analysis, but provides a useful construction of knowledge to describe and explain the critique.