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Narrative Change in Professional Wrestling: Audience Address and Creative Authority in the Era of Smart Fans

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Georgia State University ScholarWorks @ Georgia State University Communication Dissertations Department of Communication 1-6-2017 Narrative Change in Professional Wrestling: Audience Address and Creative Authority in the Era of Smart Fans Christian Norman Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.gsu.edu/communication_diss Recommended Citation Norman, Christian, "Narrative Change in Professional Wrestling: Audience Address and Creative Authority in the Era of Smart Fans." Dissertation, Georgia State University, 2017. https://scholarworks.gsu.edu/communication_diss/77 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Department of Communication at ScholarWorks @ Georgia State University. It has been accepted for inclusion in Communication Dissertations by an authorized administrator of ScholarWorks @ Georgia State University. For more information, please contact [email protected]. NARRATIVE CHANGE IN PROFESSIONAL WRESTLING: AUDIENCE ADDRESS AND CREATIVE AUTHORITY IN THE ERA OF SMART FANS by CHRISTIAN NORMAN Under the Direction of Nathan Atkinson, PhD ABSTRACT This dissertation project provides a methodological contribution to the field of critical rhetoric by positioning narrative theory as a powerful yet underutilized tool for examining the power dynamic between producer and consumer in a participatory media context. Drawing on theories of author and audience from rhetorical narratology, this study shows how producers of media texts provide rhetorical cues to audiences that allow them to reassert their power in the form of creative authority vis-à-vis consumers. The genre of professional wrestling serves as an ideal text for examining such power dynamics, as WWE has adapted to changing fan participatory behaviors throughout its sixty-year history. Focusing on pivotal moments in which WWE altered its narrative address to its audience in order to reassert its control over the production process, this study demonstrates the utility of narrative theory for understanding how creative authority shows power at work in media texts. Further, this study situates rhetorical narratology in conversation with theories of rhetorical persona, scholarship on subcultures, and the discursive construction of the “people.” In so doing, I show how a nuanced understanding of author and audience augments critical rhetorical scholarship’s focus on power. Finally, by applying narrative theory as a method for both close textual analysis of single texts as well as a tool for piecing together a critical text from narrative fragments, I also address questions of the role of the text in rhetorical criticism and the role of authorship in an era when audiences exert influence on media texts as they are produced. INDEX WORDS: Narrative theory, Critical rhetoric, Creative authority, Professional wrestling, Author, Audience, Participatory fan culture NARRATIVE CHANGE IN PROFESSIONAL WRESTLING: AUDIENCE ADDRESS AND CREATIVE AUTHORITY IN THE ERA OF SMART FANS by CHRISTIAN NORMAN A Dissertation Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the College of Arts and Sciences Georgia State University 2016 Copyright by Christian Theodore Norman 2016 NARRATIVE CHANGE IN PROFESSIONAL WRESTLING: AUDIENCE ADDRESS AND CREATIVE AUTHORITY IN THE ERA OF SMART FANS by CHRISTIAN NORMAN Committee Chair: Nathan Atkinson Committee: Michael Lane Bruner Ted Friedman Claire Sisco King Electronic Version Approved: Office of Graduate Studies College of Arts and Sciences Georgia State University December 2016 iv DEDICATION This dissertation is dedicated to Juliet and Priscilla Norman. You are a constant reminder of what is good in this world. In every way that matters, you make my life better. v ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I could not have done this without the help of so many wonderful people along the way. First and foremost, I want to thank my wife, Abby Norman. Without your support and love, there is no way I could have made it this far. You are the strongest woman I know and I thank God every day that I get to experience life side by side with you. Thank you for listening to me as I verbally processed my ideas, giving me time to write even as you pursued your own writing career, and supporting me emotionally, mentally, and physically through the hardest challenge I have ever taken on. We made it through this together and I look forward to supporting you as you now get yours. I also need to thank my two amazing daughters, Juliet and Priscilla, for showing me what true love and joy looks like even as I struggled through this process. I cherish every moment we get together and hope you understand why daddy had to spend so much time working. I love you. And you know what else? I love you. I also want to thank my family outside of Chateau Norman. My parents Connie and Maynard Norman gave me a solid foundation to pursue my dreams. You both inspire me through your hard work and love. Thank you for sending me to college and supporting me when I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do in life. Thank you also to my in-laws John and Kathleen France, who were always there for our family when we needed assistance. You believed in us throughout this journey and I appreciate your interests in my scholarly work. Thank you to all the rest of the Norman-France clan who have loved us and kept us going. Of course, I could not have actually completed this dissertation without the help of my advisor, Dr. Nathan Atkinson. This project is so much smarter for his brilliant input. I was constantly amazed at his ability to quickly turn drafts around with so much solid input. You are one of the smartest people I have ever met. More importantly to me, you have been a wonderful mentor over the last five years. I couldn’t have made it to this point without your support. I also vi want to thank the members of my committee. Dr. Michael Lane Bruner was always there to support and guide me over these past few years, and to challenge my ideas to make them better. Thank you for making me a better scholar. Dr. Ted Friedman provided great insight into the media side of this project. He is also the only one on the committee who follows professional wrestling and was a good sounding board for my insights into the case studies. Dr. Claire Sisco King, my outside member, agreed to work with me without having ever met me in person. Thank you for supporting those just making their way in the academic world. Also, your work on gender is awesome. Aside from my committee, there have been many educators that have helped me along the way, too many to name. I want to give a special shout out though to my coaches Holly Hathaway, Jennifer Talbert and Mary Moore for inspiring me to be more. I need to acknowledge some dear friends who helped me along the way as well. First, Kyle Kellam, my friend since high school, has been a rock for me in this journey. He was there whenever I needed to talk through anything. He talked through my theories with me, encouraged me emotionally, and just genuinely cared about me as a person. There are few people who have had such a profound impact on my life. Second, the colleagues in my cohort made my doctoral studies enjoyable. I especially want to give thanks to Emily Kofoed and Chris Toula. Emily was an inspiration to me as we traveled the road together. I knew I could trust her to give me hope and insight when I was the most in need of it. Chris helped to keep me sane throughout the years by being a good friend. He was willing to hang out with me and my kids at the park and talk about our respective projects. He also was the best at getting me to let loose once in a while and enjoy life. Third, thank you to smart people who also enjoy wrestling, especially Neal Hinnant, Bryce McNeil and Shane Toepfer. Whether you know it or not, you all have given me ideas that made this a better project. vii Finally, getting a doctorate with two kids at home (both in diapers for a significant portion) is a tough goal. I swore that I would use this space to thank everyone who helped me by caring for my girls as I pursued this degree. So bear with me. Thank you to Jill Locklear, Calvin Locklear, Elizabeth Hinnant, Neal Hinnant, Zoë Hess Carney, Kyle Carney, Jing Zhang, Jenny Conner, Elizabeth Decker, Tiffany Robinson, Caitlin Harrison, Betsy McCann, Pam Wolfe, Tim Wolfe, Daphne Fowler, Elisabeth Lloyd, Brooke Oliver, Milene Ortega, Steve Stuglin, Jonathan Ludwikowski, and especially Angela Hooley. You showed me how much you care by loving my kids and that means the world to me. I’m sure there are some I missed in these acknowledgements. If you had a role in my life during the last five years, know that I appreciate you all. viii TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ............................................................................................. v INTRODUCTION............................................................................................................. 1 1.1 Critical Rhetoric and Narrative Theory .......................................................... 4 1.1.1 Narrative and Theories of Persona ................................................................ 9 1.1.2 The (Narrative) Text of Rhetorical Criticism............................................... 13 1.1.3 Narrative Constructions of The People ........................................................ 15 1.1.4 Narrative Texts in Critical Rhetoric ............................................................. 17 1.2 Method...............................................................................................................
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