Pamela VanHaitsma

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This essay theorizes asexual rhetorics as archival traces of desire ateleologically oriented to expansive entanglements that do not build primarily toward sexual ends. We advance a methodology of reading for such asexual rhetorics through analysis of the archives of one of the most impactful environmental rhetors of the twentieth century, Rachel Carson. Specifically, we analyze her romantic correspondence with another (presumably cisgender) White woman, Dorothy Freeman, alongside Carson’s published writing, with attention to asexual rhetorics of entanglements and intervals. We argue that expansive entanglements and natural intervals are concurrent rhetorical encounters for Carson and Freeman, whose romantic relationship is defined and deepened through these ateleological rhythms. This argument holds implications not only for studies of Carson, but also for asexual, queer, and archival rhetorics more broadly. We offer a methodological approach to reading for asexual rhetorics in the archives of any figure whose life and work resonate with expansively desirous asexual potential.

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