Document Type
Thesis
Degree
Master of Arts
Major
English
Date of Defense
4-17-2025
Graduate Advisor
Dr. Lauren Obermark
Committee
Dr. Lara Kelland
Professor Shane Seely
Abstract
Combining rhetorical analysis, oral history collection, and archival study, this multi-genre research project explores lesbian feminist organizing in the 1970s. Moonstorm was a St. Louis lesbian feminist magazine that operated in the 1970s and 1980s. The sample in this research project focuses on the issues of Moonstorm published between 1973 and 1977. Issues of Moonstorm are available for viewing in the archives of the State Historical Society of Missouri. Building on V. Jo Hsu’s theory of constellating, the poems and stories found in Moonstorm serve as sites of both contested and unconditional belonging for modern LGBTQ+ activists. Constellating, specifically in the context of cultural rhetorics, maps the similarities and differences of rhetoric stored in the archives, allowing for a multiplicity of experiences to exist in unison. Collectivity, separatism, and feminist intersectionality are the primary topics of analysis in Moonstorm. Personal narrative and poems from the researcher constellate with the experiences found in Moonstorm and the oral histories collected for this project. The project also underscores the ways in which publics and counterpublics operate in the rhetorical sphere within the context of social justice movements.
Recommended Citation
Blanchard, Aurora, "Moonstorm in the Mainstream or on the Margins?: Constellating St. Louis Lesbian Rhetorics from the Archives" (2025). Theses. 492.
https://irl.umsl.edu/thesis/492