Family Rhetoric as Social Order

Abstract

Taking the social order of family life to exist in its signs and rhetoric, we interpret field data gathered in human service settings to show how family order is sustained and transformed through representational practice. We address four aspects of family rhetoric: (1) scope of application, (2) rhetorical transformation, (3) signification and order, and (4) rhetorical predominance. The organization of native understandings and interpretations of enduring family conduct suggests that the social order of individual families is as manifold as its representations, and as stable as its confirmations.