“I Said What I Said”—Black Women and Argumentative Politeness Norms

Abstract

This paper seeks to compli-cate two primary norms within argu-mentation theory: 1) engaging with one’s interlocutors in a “pleasant” tone and 2) speaking directly to one’s target audience/interlocutor. Moreover, I urge argumentation theorists to ex-plore various cultures’ argumentative norms and practices when attempting to formulate more universal theories regarding argumentation. Ultimately, I aim to show that the two previously mentioned norms within argumenta-tion obscure and misrepresent many argumentative practices within Afri-can American Vernacular English—or Ebonics, specifically the art of signify-ing.