Abstract
In 1922, Emily Post published, Etiquette in Society, In Business, In Politics and at Home, which became a national bestseller. While other etiquette manuals had been written up to that point, none has been so successful and enduring in the American consciousness as Post’s. In this article, I explore the rhetorical strategies Post employed in creating a text that follows the conventions of an etiquette manual but breaks the convention of exclusivity generally associated with etiquette texts. I argue Post was successful because of her uniquely American approach to etiquette. The success of Post’s text can be attributed to her ability to navigate the dichotomous roles of conventionality and unconventionality in the genre of the etiquette text, as well as Post’s rhetorically constructed persona. On the whole, the success of Etiquette in Society, in Business, in Politics, and at Home was dependent on the social/ cultural milieu of the 1920s, as the conventions of the etiquette manual changed to meet the changing ideals of American society. The changing roles of women as “gatekeepers” of the social world of the U.S. allowed Post to make innovations in the genre of the etiquette manual.
Journal Title
Iowa Journal of Communication
Volume
56
Issue
1
First Page
101
Last Page
120
Language
en
File Format
application/pdf
Recommended Citation
Zwilling, Jillian Klean
(2024)
"An Unconventional Etiquette: Emily Post and Etiquette in Society, In Business, In Politics, and at Home.,"
Iowa Journal of Communication: Vol. 56:
No.
1, Article 8.
Available at:
https://scholarworks.uni.edu/ijc/vol56/iss1/8
Copyright
©2024 Iowa Communication Association
