Disruptive Communication in Political Campaigning: On the Rhetoric of Metanoic Reflexivity

Stefan Iversen Russian State Agrarian Correspondence University

Abstract

Communicative acts that deliberately disrupt how an audience understands them as either fiction or nonfiction are well-known phenomena. Still, the rhetoric of such disruptions has yet to be systematically investigated. This essay treats the experience of such disruptions as a distinct form of reflexivity, conceptualizing it as metanoic reflexivity. Drawing on recent work on fictionality theory and on theories of metanoia, the essay uses this concept to describe the reading effect that is produced when a rhetor uses nonconventional forms of fictionality to disrupt how an audience ascribes relevance to a communicative act. Through readings of Democratic campaign rhetoric from the US presidential election of 2020, the essay directs attention to how this reflexivity has moved from artistic practices to the communicative mainstream, investigates how it operates, and discusses its potential deliberative ramifications.

Journal
Rhetoric Society Quarterly
Published
2022-08-08
DOI
10.1080/02773945.2022.2061585
CompPile
Search in CompPile ↗
Open Access
Closed
Topics
Export

Citation Context

Cited by in this index (0)

No articles in this index cite this work.

References (54) · 1 in this index

  1. Ada: A Journal of Gender, New Media, and Technology
  2. Ethos and Narrative Interpretation: The Negotiation of Values in Fiction
  3. Axelrod, Tal. “Bloomberg Campaign Teams Up With ‘Meme 2020’ To Flood Instagram With Sponsored Content.” Poste…
  4. Biden, Joe (@joebiden). “After Eight Months of This Pandemic, We Finally Found President Trump’s Plan to Beat…
  5. Biden, Joe. TrumpCovidPlan.com. URL No Longer Active. http://web.archive.org/web/20201023194044/https://trump…
Show all 54 →
  1. Bloomberg, Mike (@mikebloomberg). “Anyone?” Posted on Instagram, 20 Feb. 2020. https://www.instagram.com/p/B8…
  2. A Rhetoric of Irony
  3. Strange Narrators in Contemporary Fiction
  4. The 1996 Presidential Campaign: A Communication Perspective
  5. Political Campaign Communication: Theory, Method, and Practice
  6. Posted February
  7. Social Media + Society
  8. Metanoia. Rhetoric, Authenticity, and the Transformation of the Self
  9. Fuckadvertisements (@fuckadvertisements). “Hello Mr. Advertisements.” Posted on Instagram, 13 Feb. 2020. http…
  10. Quantified Storytelling: A Narrative Analysis of Metrics on Social Media
  11. Frame Analysis: An Essay on the Organization of Experience
  12. Satire: A Critical Reintroduction
  13. A Companion to Celebrity
  14. Special Issue of European Journal of English Studies on “Fact and Fiction in Contemporary Narratives.”
  15. Narrative Factuality: A Handbook
  16. 10.5250/storyworlds.9.1-2.0121
  17. 10.1080/13825577.2016.1230389
  18. Packaging the Presidency: A History and Criticism of Presidential Campaign Advertising
  19. 10.1002/polq.12699
  20. Sourcebook on Rhetoric: Key Concepts in Contemporary Rhetorical Studies
  21. Kang, Cecilia. “Facebook’s Hands-Off Approach to Political Speech Gets Impeachment Test.” The New York Times,…
  22. 10.1080/19392397.2016.1218292
  23. A Handlist of Rhetorical Terms
  24. The Johns Hopkins Guide to Literary Theory and Criticism
  25. A Companion to Celebrity
  26. Rhetoric Society Quarterly
  27. College Composition and Communication
  28. Post-Classical Narratology: Approaches and Analyses
  29. 10.1353/nar.2015.0005
  30. Somebody Telling Somebody Else. A Rhetorical Poetics of Narrative
  31. This Is Why We Can’t Have Nice Things: Mapping the Relationship between Online Trolling a…
  32. The Strategy of Rhetoric: Campaigning for the American Constitution
  33. Memes in Digital Culture
  34. 10.1215/03335372-3160709
  35. Bowstring: On the Dissimilarity of the Similar
  36. Stewart, Emily. “Facebook’s Political Ads Policy Is Predictably Turning Out to Be a Disaster.” www.vox.com, 3…
  37. Presidential Campaigning in the Internet Age
  38. The_ezra. “Michael Bloomberg Bought Out Hundreds Of Instagram Meme Accounts To ‘Make Him Look Cool.’” https:/…
  39. 10.1080/03637757809375974
  40. Sins against Science: The Scientific Media Hoaxes of Poe, Twain, And Others
  41. 10.5325/style.53.4.0397
  42. The Rhetoric of Fictionality
  43. Fictionality in Literature: Core Concepts Revisited
  44. Ward, Alex. “Mike Bloomberg Tweeted a Doctored Debate Video. Is It Political Spin or Disinformation?” Vox, 20…
  45. Warren, Elizabeth. “Breaking News: Mark Zuckerberg and Facebook Just Endorsed Donald Trump for Re-Election.” …
  46. ———. “Here’s How We Can Break up Big Tech.” Posted on Medium.com. 8, Mar. 2019. https://medium.com/@teamwarre…
  47. 10.1177/1354856520923963
  48. Bunk: The Rise of Hoaxes, Humbug, Plagiarists, Phonies, Post-facts, and Fake News
  49. The Routledge Encyclopedia of Narrative Theory