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The Constitutive Utopian Rhetoric of Julius Wayland in the Appeal to Reason by © 2017 Daniel P

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The Constitutive Utopian Rhetoric of Julius Wayland in the Appeal to Reason by © 2017 Daniel P How to Build an Army: The Constitutive Utopian Rhetoric of Julius Wayland in the Appeal to Reason By © 2017 Daniel P. Overton M.A., Harding School of Theology M.Div., Harding School of Theology B.A., Freed-Hardeman University Submitted to the graduate degree program in Communication Studies and the Graduate Faculty of the University of Kansas in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. Chair: Robert Rowland Jay Childers Scott Harris Beth Innocenti Timothy Miller Date Defended: 29 March 2017 ii The dissertation committee for Daniel P. Overton certifies that this is the approved version of the following dissertation: How to Build an Army: The Constitutive Utopian Rhetoric of Julius Wayland in the Appeal to Reason Chair: Robert Rowland Date Approved: 31 March 2017 iii Abstract Founded and edited by Julius Augustus Wayland, the Appeal to Reason, an influential socialist newspaper at the turn of the twentieth century, succeeded where every other contemporary radical periodical failed. It attracted a large national audience with an eventual distribution of approximately 750,000 copies per week. During its peak, the Appeal had a greater circulation than any other national weekly paper, and it remains the most widely circulated leftist publication in American history. In what follows I discuss the rhetorical strategies Wayland employed to constitute his readership into a movement geared toward collective action, and I describe the power of the utopian, constitutive, and prophetic rhetoric found in the pages of the Appeal, especially through the editorship of Wayland. Despite its largely secular doctrine, the Appeal can be seen as a kind of scripture pointing toward a socialist utopian myth to create heaven on earth, and Wayland was the key prophetic, homiletic, and symbolic figure serving to rally an energized group of Appeal Army foot soldiers during a period of great social unrest. I examine key rhetorical moments from the Appeal, including the early years of the paper, the creation of the Appeal Army, and the publication of Eugene Debs’ infamous “Arouse, Ye Slaves!” These case studies reveal Wayland’s mobilization of a vernacular persona, autobiographical narrative, hermeneutics, redefinition, and rhetorical violence as key strategies in the creation of the Appeal public. Through an inductive analysis of the rhetoric in the Appeal, I provide a theory-based explanation for the constitution and prodigious growth of the Appeal’s unprecedented readership. iv Acknowledgments To complete this project and the resulting degree, I am indebted to a great number of kind people, a few of whom I thank here. I am grateful to the faculty and staff of Harding School of Theology for thoroughly preparing me for doctoral work. I am especially grateful to Mark Powell for serving as my major professor and for guiding my thesis project, to M. Patrick Graham for inspiring my desire for further graduate work, and to Dave Bland for encouraging me to pursue my interests in rhetoric. These men are model Christian educators and scholars, and I am thankful they invested in me during my years in Memphis. Their letters of recommendation nearly four years ago started this entire process. I did not make the decision to move to Kansas lightly, and I entered this program with a good deal of trepidation. My professors at the University of Kansas met and exceeded all my expectations, and I am a far better thinker and communicator due to their guidance. I appreciate Dave Tell for serving as my advisor for the first half of my time in Kansas; the idea for this dissertation emerged from a conversation in his office. His support during my first semester at KU was crucial to my modest success here, and his scholarship continues to intrigue and inspire me. Jay Childers facilitated memorable and engaging seminars, while allowing me to work through my interests in constitutive rhetoric and offbeat Kansan radicals in term papers and in his office. Beth Innocenti opened my eyes to the history of rhetoric, and I owe my affection for Plato to her. Scott Harris proved why he is so popular among the undergraduate students at KU, and his seminars offered valuable insights into quality pedagogy. I thank Tim Miller for serving on my committee and for his encouragement of this project. Finally, I am grateful for my advisor Robert Rowland. He has significantly improved this dissertation, and his guidance made this v project far simpler. Dr. Rowland is the ideal mentor, and I hope to pay forward just a bit of the kindness he has shown to me during my years as a student at KU. I also want to express gratitude to those who significantly improved my quality of life in Kansas. I am appreciative to the library staff at KU who pulled hundreds of books, articles, and interlibrary loan material on my behalf. I am thankful for the kind, committed service of Suzanne Grachek and John Fackler to our department generally and to me specifically. I am grateful for my cohort, those of us students who began our time at the University of Kansas in the fall of 2014. The camaraderie in classes and in the office made all those hours on campus far more enjoyable. I am especially grateful for my officemates in Bailey 408, the bullpen. The frequent thwacking sound of Bailey Ball will always be with me. Furthermore, I am indebted to the Southside Church of Christ for caring for Elaine and me during our time in Lawrence. I am especially grateful for our small group, particularly the Vaughans and Teskas who welcomed us every Sunday evening for fellowship around their living room and kitchen table. That time served as an oasis during some otherwise stressful moments. I also want to thank John Jones of Pepperdine University for encouraging me from my first semester at KU and for facilitating my time teaching in Malibu. He has proved a tremendous source of help and guidance to me, and I appreciate his continued friendship. I am further grateful to Freed-Hardeman University for allowing me to teach full-time while I finished working on this manuscript. Finally, I am grateful for my family. I thank my father and my mother for allowing me to excel academically without pressuring me. I am who I am because of their love for me. I should also thank Pickle for his company on many, many walks and for sitting beside me as I wrote much of this document. Above all, I thank my wife Elaine who reluctantly gave up our vi life in Southaven to move to a place neither of us had ever been. She worked hard and supported me tremendously during some difficult years. I literally could not have completed this degree or dissertation without her. I am especially grateful for our daughter Eleanor. She was worth the wait. As the names above indicate, my cup runneth over. vii Dedication To my girls, Elaine and Eleanor. It’s all for you. viii Table of Contents Chapter 1: Introduction .................................................................................................................. 1 Justification .................................................................................................................................. 4 Literature Review ........................................................................................................................ 7 Literature Concerning the Appeal to Reason ........................................................... 7 Broader Literature ................................................................................................. 13 Methodology .............................................................................................................................. 20 Plan of Study ............................................................................................................................. 21 Chapter 2: On the Long Gilded Age, American Socialism, and Utopian Myth .......................... 23 The Gilded Age ......................................................................................................................... 23 Haymarket Affair ................................................................................................... 29 American Socialism ................................................................................................................... 33 The Appeal to Reason and Its Relationship to American Culture ............................................. 42 The Story of the Appeal ......................................................................................... 46 Utopian Rhetoric ....................................................................................................................... 50 Markers of Effective Utopian Rhetoric ................................................................. 58 Utopian Rhetoric in the Appeal ............................................................................. 62 Conclusion ................................................................................................................................. 72 Chapter 3: Julius Wayland’s Constitutive Self-Presentation in the Early Appeal to Reason ...... 74 Julius Wayland’s Story .............................................................................................................. 76 Public Constitution and Vernacular Narratives ......................................................................... 79 Wayland’s Constitutive Identifications ..................................................................................... 89 Vernacular Persona ...............................................................................................
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