%0 Journal Article
%T A Rhetoric of Cultural Contract
%A Tuyen D. Nguyen
%A Gerald Powell
%J International Journal of English Linguistics
%D 2012
%I 
%R 10.5539/ijel.v2n2p3
%X This analysis utilizes Ronald Jackson¡¯s (2002) theoretical framework, Cultural Contracts of Identity, to explore the negotiation process of black identity, via Malcolm X, the central character in Spike Lee¡¯s cinematic production of X. Jackson¡¯s theory punctuates three socio-communicative constraints, otherwise known as cultural contracts, with which one can examine black identity¡ªready-to-sign, quasi-completed, and cocreated. Jackson used the term cultural contracts to refer to ¡°the end product of identity negotiation; hence every ¡®signed¡¯ or agreed-upon cultural contract has a direct impact on one¡¯s identity¡± (p. 49). As such, the study underscores the fluid dialectical tension echoing between one¡¯s contract and one¡¯s identity. The focus here, then, is on explaining how one¡¯s identity is contingent upon the present and ensuing contracts. Select passages from the film X clearly articulating a compromise in Malcolm¡¯s identity to establish a change in worldview, where possible, serve as the impetus for this analysis.
%U http://www.ccsenet.org/journal/index.php/ijel/article/view/16048