“There is a Place Set For You at Our Table, if You Will Choose to Join Us”: An Invitational Rhetorical Analysis of Starhawk’s The Fifth Sacred Thing

Karen A. Foss, Sonja K. Foss, and Cindy L. Griffin’s definition of Invitational Rhetoric is restricted when the rhetorical space does not adhere to the feminist principles of equality, immanent value, and self-determination, which undergird the Invitational Rhetorical theory. This alternative feminist rhetoric encourages transformation through dialogue and non-coercive speech acts. The success of this alternative rhetoric as a dialogue can occur when the rhetorical space is identified within the paradigm of constructed potentiality. The paradigm of constricted potentiality does not provide a space for Invitational Rhetoric; therefore, to engage in that rhetoric one must use Invitational Rhetorical tactics. Starhawk’s The Fifth Sacred Thing enacts Invitational Rhetoric and Invitational Rhetorical tactics to explore each paradigm represented in the novel through the rhetorical actions of the characters of Maya, Bird, and Madrone.