Postmodern Political Communication: The Fringe Challenges the Center

(Hardback)

Publishing Details

Classifications

Physical Properties

Description

Analyses of political dialogue have traditionally concentrated on structures of government or social movements, drawing clear boundaries between the individual and the state. In its examination of the marginal "fringe" groups struggling to secure power, "Postmodern Political Communication" aims to broaden our conception of political behaviour and places new emphasis on the generation and invention of politics. This volume's contributors examine the discourse of deviant, oppressed and powerless groups from the point of view of empowerment; that is, how do such outsider groups engage the centre and how are they able to use mass media to gain political power The authors study the discourse of those who seem most alienated from the formal political process: religious cults, youth gangs, submerged culture groups, and illegal aliens. Their analyses concentrate on the ways in which postmodern discourse legitimizes distribution of power in the social order, and disclose the ideological and political messages of communicative theory and nonpolitical expression. With its explorations of communicative theory and implications for praxis, this work may appeal to a large audience of scholars and practitioners in political science and communication.

Reviews

. . . this book provides a series of interesting case studies that would be particularly useful in under-graduate courses on political communication.-Journal of Communication
." . . this book provides a series of interesting case studies that would be particularly useful in under-graduate courses on political communication."-Journal of Communication

Author Bio

ANDREW KING is Professor and Chair of the Department of Speech Communication at Louisiana State University. He has authored two previous books. Professor King's academic interests lie in the areas of communication and power, and medieval and renaissance rhetorical theory.