Making of Barack Obama, The

Description

The Making of Barack Obama: The Politics of Persuasion provides the first comprehensive treatment of why Obama’s rhetorical strategies were so effective during the 2008 presidential campaign, during the first four years of his presidency, and once again during the 2012 presidential campaign.

Sujets

• Executive Branch
• American Government
• Political Science

Informations

• Publié par: Parlor Press, LLC
• Date de parution: 01 octobre 2013
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781602354708
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 1 Mo

Extrait

Praise for The Making of Barack Obama . . .
“With its timely and engaging focus on the rhetorical performances of Barack Obama, this collection makes a significant contribution to the study of contemporary public rhetoric and political discourse. The contributors analyze a variety of political speeches—on topics ranging from racial politics, to the U.S. military’s use of torture, to conflict in the Middle East—and critically examine the rhetorical strategies employed by Obama to negotiate diverse national and international audiences, to navigate political and material constraints, and to construct and reinvent his personal and political identity. The book invites a deeper exploration into Obama’s use of persuasion, and with its analysis of how his performances before multiple and composite audiences are both flawless and flawed, enriches our understanding of how rhetorical performances function as sites for intervention and political agency and how rhetorical actions both enable and limit social change.”
— Mary Jo Reiff, Associate Professor of English
University of Kansas
“From the inspiring slogans and speeches of his campaign to the eloquent successes and failures of his presidency, Barack Obama has been extravagantly praised and sarcastically criticized for the distinctive power of his rhetoric. The essays in this collection persuasively analyze that rhetoric in all its specific tactics and general strategies, in its idealist yearnings and its pragmatic compromises, in its ambitious strivings and its political obstacles.”
— Steven Mailloux, President’s Professor of Rhetoric,
Loyola Marymount University
“By confronting topics often avoided in politically correct discourse—including religious identity, racial belonging and the cultural politics of difference— The Making of Barack Obama doesn’t hesitate to engage divisive and difficult issues; producing some of the most challenging, insightful and provocative perspectives to date.”
—Rhea Lathan, Assistant Professor of English,
Florida State University
“A readable yet critically engaging collection, The Making of Barack Obama: The Politics of Persuasion offers a robust look at the deft rhetorical strategies deployed by the first African American President. Moving beyond sentimental, hypercritical or otherwise dismissive readings of his oratory, these essays explore how Obama’s speeches have addressed substantive issues, such as globalization, the American dream, political gridlock, and the legacy of racism and religious bigotry. This book will appeal to rhetorical scholars and laypersons alike.”
—David G. Holmes, Professor of English,
Pepperdine University
“In The Making of Barack Obama , Matthew Abraham, Erec Smith and their contributors have reached the analytical depth Obama’s own rhetoric warrants. Taken together, the essays in this collection treat Barack Obama’s rhetoric with both the respect and suspicion it deserves; in the juxtaposition of those responses, we learn a great deal about linkages between persuasion and identity in contemporary U.S. and global politics. A difficult project pulled off very well!”
—Seth Kahn, Associate Professor of English,
West Chester University of Pennsylvania
“The Making of Barack Obama helps us recognize how rhetoric both made and unmade Obama. These insightful essays about key speeches help us see how Obama is neither a saint nor the devil, not someone to deliver us from evil or one who defines evil. The lesson the book teaches is important: A politician with rhetorical skills can’t change the realities that shape our politics.”
—Robert Jensen, Professor, School of Journalism,
University of Texas at Austin


The Making of Barack Obama
The Politics of Persuasion
Edited by
Matthew Abraham and Erec Smith
Parlor Press
Anderson, South Carolina
www.parlorpress.com


Parlor Press LLC, Anderson, South Carolina, USA
© 2013 by Parlor Press
All rights reserved.
Printed in the United States of America
First Edition
S A N: 2 5 4 - 8 8 7 9
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
The making of Barack Obama : the politics of persuasion / edited by Matthew Abraham and Erec Smith.
pages cm
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-1-60235-467-8 (pbk. : alk. paper) -- ISBN 978-1-60235-468-5 (hardcover : alk. paper) -- ISBN 978-1-60235-469-2 (adobe ebook) -- ISBN 978-1-60235-470-8 (epub) -- ISBN 978-1-60235-471-5 (kindle) -- ISBN 978-1-60235-472-2 (ibook)
1. Obama, Barack--Oratory. 2. Obama, Barack--Language. 3. Rhetoric--Political aspects--United States--History--21st century. 4. Communication in politics--United States--History--21st century. 5. United States--Politics and government--2009- I. Abraham, Matthew, 1972-
E908.3.M35 2013
973.932092--dc23
2013031674
Front cover image: President Barack Obama and Jon Favreau, head speechwriter, edit a speech on health care in the Oval Office, Sept. 9, 2009, in preparation for the president’s address to a joint session of Congress. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza). Back cover image: The President delivers remarks on Afghanistan before cadets at West Point (Dec. 1, 2009). (Official White House photo by Pete Souza)
Cover design by David Blakesley
Printed on acid-free paper.
1 2 3 4 5
Parlor Press, LLC is an independent publisher of scholarly and trade titles in print and multimedia formats. This book is available in paper, hardcover, and Adobe eBook formats from Parlor Press on the World Wide Web at http://www.parlorpress.com or through online and brick-and-mortar bookstores. For submission information or to find out about Parlor Press publications, write to Parlor Press, 3015 Brackenberry Drive, Anderson, SC 29621, or e-mail [e-mail].


Contents
Acknowledgments
Editors’ Introduction
Matthew Abraham and Erec Smith
1 The Rhetorical Constraints Limiting President Obama’s Domestic Policy Advocacy
Robert C. Rowland
2 “Yes, We Can!”: Identification and the Invitation to Collective Identity in Barack Obama’s Campaign Rhetoric
Courtney Jue
3 Appointments and Disappointments: A Rhetorical Analysis of the Relationship Between President Obama, Catholics, and Their Church
John Jasso and Anthony Wachs
4 Barack Obama, Islam, and the Discourses of American Racial Belonging
Steven Salaita
5 The New Cultural Politics of Obama: Race, Politics and Unity in Obama’s “A More Perfect Union”
Erec Smith
6 Obama’s West Point Address: The Symbolic Construction of Policy and Authority
Michael Kleine
7 A Few Bad Apples: Barack Obama’s Response to the Bush Administration Policy on Torture
Richard Marback
8 The Specter of Nuestra América: Barack Obama, Latin America and the 2009 Summit of the Americas
Ren é Agustin De los Santos
9 Obama’s Cairo Speech: Beyond the Rhetoric and Politics of “Good Muslim, Bad Muslim”
Matthew Abraham
10 Reflections on The Making of Barack Obama
David A. Frank
Glossary
Contributors
Index to the Print Edition


Acknowledgments
The editors wish to acknowledge the expert help of Professor Richard Marback in preparing the manuscript for publication. Rick did a good bit of the heavy lifting for the collection, without which the project could not have been brought to completion. The editors also wish to thank Professor David Blakesley at Parlor Press for his early interest in this project, as well as his commitment to seeing the manuscript come into print. We would also like to thank Amy Hubbard in DePaul University’s Department of Writing, Rhetoric, and Discourse, who provided invaluable support in copyediting the collection. We are also indebted to the anonymous reviewer whose suggestions for revision proved to be invaluable. Finally, Matthew wishes to acknowledge the generous support of a 2012 DePaul University Liberal Arts and Social Sciences summer research grant, as it gave the him some necessary release time to place the final touches on the collection.


Editors’ Introduction
Matthew Abraham and Erec Smith
B arack Obama’s rise to political superstardom—from his beginnings as a state representative, to his time as an Illinois junior senator, to his capturing the Democratic nomination for president in 2008, and to his eventual election to the presidency—represents a testament to the power of persuasion, just as much as it is a testament to the power of political identification and solidarity. In an attempt to examine Obama’s uncanny power to persuade American citizens to locate commonalities across polarizing lines of political identification, this collection analyzes several of Obama’s speeches through various lenses, working through the significance of Obama’s embodiment as the first African American president of the United States. Obama’s re-election to a second term on November 7, 2012 affirmed Obama’s rhetorical brilliance and the responsiveness of his campaign to our historical moment.
Everyone remembers how Obama surmounted numerous challenges to the viability of his presidential candidacy in the 2008 election, demonstrating time and again how gifted he is in crafting the spoken word within difficult rhetorical situations. From his 2004 speech