Recommend books or textbooks on political communication?
August 15, 2013 8:08 PM Subscribe
I'm going to be teaching a second-year journalism-school course in political writing. I'd like to expand the curriculum a bit to build in elements of the study of political communication: The rhetoric, the language, the semiotic warfare of politics and persuasion. But I'm a working journalist, not an academic, and my understanding of such things is largely self-taught. So I need a book or textbook to formalize my own understanding and develop course materials from. Any suggestions? (Bonus: Suggestions for Canadians, which we happen to be?)
In my Googling-around, I've found a lot of such books out there - but I have no idea if they're all that good, which is why I turn to you smart folk for recommendations. But texts like An Introduction to Political Communication or Political Communication: Rhetoric, Government, and Citizens are good examples of what I'm looking for, albeit written for American students. Are there any canonical or new-and-hot texts you'd recommend?
In my Googling-around, I've found a lot of such books out there - but I have no idea if they're all that good, which is why I turn to you smart folk for recommendations. But texts like An Introduction to Political Communication or Political Communication: Rhetoric, Government, and Citizens are good examples of what I'm looking for, albeit written for American students. Are there any canonical or new-and-hot texts you'd recommend?
I recently taught a class on language and politics. I taught it from an anthropological perspective though, so I'm not sure how helpful these suggestions will be, but I'll throw them out anyway.
Geoffrey Nunberg's books (namely Going Nucular and Talking Right: How Conservatives Turned Liberalism into a Tax-Raising, Latte-Drinking, Sushi-Eating, Volvo- Driving, New York Times-Reading, Body-Piercing, Hollywood-Loving, Left-Wing Freak Show) consist of quick little essays that are incisive and engaging.
Michael Silverstein, Talking Politics: The Substance of Style from Abe to “W.” -- contains a great deconstruction of the Gettysburg Address. (He also has a recent book with Michael Lempert about American political language, but I haven't read it yet.)
Jay Fliegelman, Declaring Independence: Jefferson, Natural Language, and the Culture of Performance, for a historical perspective
George Lakoff's written some pretty popular stuff in the past decade about "framing."
I think the Orwell piece is a good example of political communication itself, but from an anthropological perspective his understanding of language is... inadequate, to say the least.
posted by enlarged to show texture at 10:52 PM on August 16, 2013 [1 favorite]
Geoffrey Nunberg's books (namely Going Nucular and Talking Right: How Conservatives Turned Liberalism into a Tax-Raising, Latte-Drinking, Sushi-Eating, Volvo- Driving, New York Times-Reading, Body-Piercing, Hollywood-Loving, Left-Wing Freak Show) consist of quick little essays that are incisive and engaging.
Michael Silverstein, Talking Politics: The Substance of Style from Abe to “W.” -- contains a great deconstruction of the Gettysburg Address. (He also has a recent book with Michael Lempert about American political language, but I haven't read it yet.)
Jay Fliegelman, Declaring Independence: Jefferson, Natural Language, and the Culture of Performance, for a historical perspective
George Lakoff's written some pretty popular stuff in the past decade about "framing."
I think the Orwell piece is a good example of political communication itself, but from an anthropological perspective his understanding of language is... inadequate, to say the least.
posted by enlarged to show texture at 10:52 PM on August 16, 2013 [1 favorite]
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posted by Mister Bijou at 4:03 PM on August 16, 2013 [1 favorite]