Rhetoric Society Quarterly Aug 2017

Political Animals:<i>Prosopopoeia</i>in the 1944 Presidential Election

Bryan Blankfield University of Pittsburgh

Abstract

This essay examines citizen correspondence to the White House following Franklin Delano Roosevelt (FDR)’s “Fala speech.” During the 1944 presidential election, citizens often engaged in prosopopoeia by writing from the perspective of their pets and Roosevelt’s dog, Fala. I argue that citizens used this classical rhetorical figure to identify with the president and express their views of FDR’s character. Thus, animals offered a strategic, seemingly nonpolitical locus for expressing judgments about the election.

Journal
Rhetoric Society Quarterly
Published
2017-08-08
DOI
10.1080/02773945.2017.1293283
Open Access
Closed

Citation Context

Cited by in this index (0)

No articles in this index cite this work.

Cites in this index (5)

  1. Blankfield (2016)
    “A Symbol of His Warmth and Humanity”: Fala, Roosevelt, and the Personable Presidency
    Rhetoric & Public Affairs
  2. Hartelius (2013)
    Face-ing Immigration:<i>Prosopopeia</i>and the “Muslim-Arab-Middle Eastern” Other
    Rhetoric Society Quarterly
  3. Davis (2011)
    Creaturely Rhetorics
    Philosophy & Rhetoric
  4. Hawhee (2011)
    Toward a Bestial Rhetoric
    Philosophy & Rhetoric
  5. Muckelbauer (2011)
    Domesticating Animal Theory
    Philosophy & Rhetoric
Also cites 15 works outside this index ↓
  1. 10.1080/10570311003767183
     ↗
  2. 10.1080/01463370309370159
     ↗
  3. 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199764129.001.0001
     ↗
  4. 10.1080/14791420.2010.523433
     ↗
  5. Goodale Greg (2010)
    Arguments about Animal Ethics
     ↗
  6. 10.1080/15362426.2012.657063
     ↗
  7. Hawhee Debra. (2017)
    Rhetoric in Tooth and Claw: Language, Animals
     ↗
  8. Kete Kathleen. (1994)
    The Beast in the Boudoir: Petkeeping in Nineteenth-Century Paris
     ↗
  9. 10.1080/00335637409383242
     ↗
  10. 10.1080/10570319309374428
     ↗
  11. 10.1080/00335639709384172
     ↗
  12. 10.1080/00335639409384072
     ↗
  13. 10.7208/chicago/9780226922638.001.0001
     ↗
  14. 10.3138/CRAS-025-01-03
     ↗
  15. 10.1632/pmla.2009.124.2.564
     ↗
CrossRef global citation count: 2 View in citation network →