Open Thesis - Jeremy David Johnson
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The Pennsylvania State University The Graduate School College of the Liberal Arts CONVERGENCE RHETORICS: NEGOTIATING DIGITAL AND OFFLINE IDENTITIES A Thesis in Communication Arts and Sciences by Jeremy David Johnson © 2014 Jeremy David Johnson Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Arts August 2014 ii The thesis of Jeremy David Johnson was reviewed and approved* by the following: Rosa A. Eberly Associate Professor of Communication Arts and Sciences, and English Thesis Adviser Thomas W. Benson Edwin Erle Sparks Professor of Rhetoric Stephen H. Browne Professor of Communication Arts and Sciences J. Michael Hogan Liberal Arts Research Professor and Director, Center for Democratic Deliberation Kirt H. Wilson Associate Professor of Rhetoric in the Communication Arts and Sciences Department and Director of Graduate Studies *Signatures are on file in the Graduate School. iii Abstract Advances in digital communication have made necessary new approaches to understanding rhetoric and rhetorical exchanges. In this thesis, I examine what I describe as networked rhetorics, wherein rhetorical fragments created by various Web user-rhetors come together to shape rhetorical discourses. I have identified three discourses for analysis, all concerned with the separation or convergence of offline persons and online identities or personae. In each of these cases, there is a proposition of convergence, suggesting that one’s online persona represents or is part of an offline self, as bounded by a real name. First, I analyze rhetoric surrounding attacks made by the Maine State Senate on Colleen Lachowicz in the 2012 election season. The Maine GOP attacked Lachowicz by referring to her World of Warcraft video game character and statements she made under the name associated with the account, Santiaga. Second, I examine mourning for Sean Smith, a U.S. diplomat killed in the Benghazi attacks of 2012. Smith, an avid player of the video game EVE Online, was mourned by the EVE Online community and the U.S. State Department with a eulogy given by Hillary Clinton. In the mourning process, the EVE community and the State Department mourned both Sean Smith and his online persona, Vile Rat. Finally, I delve into two articles published on the technology website Ars Technica. The articles investigate Edward Snowden’s past on the Ars Technica forums, where he used the name “TheTrueHOOHA.” In each case, networks of rhetoric negotiate whether these online personae are separate from the online persons identified (Colleen Lachowicz, Sean Smith, and Edward Snowden). To understand these networked rhetorics, I explore three particular features of the discourse, which I describe as frames and topoi. First, I employ Perelman and Olbrechts-Tyteca’s theorizing about the appearance/reality pair in rhetoric, as it pertains to reasoning about values. Second, I dig into perspectives on public and private communication and life. Finally, I analyze works of classical rhetoric by Aristotle, Quintilian, Cicero, and the author of the Rhetorica ad Herennium, seeking to iv understand how one might praise or blame an individual in performing various roles or personae. In total, each topos guides the networked rhetorics, shaping the features of the largely political discourses. The rhetors in each network tend to stake claim in “truths” or “realities,” creating hierarchies of value, which shape understanding of identity and its meaning, both on the Web and offline. v Table of Contents LIST OF FIGURES..................................................................................................................... vii PREFACE……………………………………………………………………………………… viii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS........................................................................................................... ix Chapter 1: Introduction: Networked Rhetoric and Identity Convergence.................................. 1 Rhetorical Contexts of Negotiation….………………………………………………… 4 Scope and Organization.................................................................................................. 8 Chapter Outline............................................................................................................... 9 Chapter 2: Points of Conversation and Contention................................................................... 18 Appearance/Reality ………………………………..…................................................... 19 Public/Private Living...................................................................................................... 27 Rhetorical Masks: Praise and Blame.............................................................................. 35 Conversation and Contention in Networked Rhetorics………………………………. 48 Chapter 3: When Worlds (Of Warcraft) Collide….................................................................... 56 Attack and Defense………………………………………............................................. 58 Ethos of a Gamer: Publics and Privates Divided............................................................ 67 Blending Personae, Anonymity, and Permanence........................................................... 70 Appearance and Reality in “Colleen’s World”............................................................... 72 Life, Public and Private……………………………...................................................... 77 Reflections……………………………………………………………………………... 79 Chapter 4: Mourning Vile Rat………………………………………………………............... 86 Community Outpouring.................................................................................................. 88 The Many Masks of Sean Smith…………………......................................................... 94 Sean Smith, the Public Man……………….................................................................. 99 Appearance and Reality in Diplomacy........................................................................... 103 Reflections……………………………………………………………………………... 108 Chapter 5: Revealing Snowden……………………................................................................... 114 Contextualizing Forensic and Epideictic Discourse........................................................ 115 Article One: NSA Leaker Ed Snowden’s Life on Ars Technica...................................... 118 The User Hell Storm.…………………………………………………………...…........ 121 Article Two: Composing the Techno-Thriller………………………………………….. 127 Community Conflicted………………………………………………………………….131 Finding the “Real” Snowden…………………………………………………………... 134 Reflections……………………………………………………………………………... 137 vi Chapter 6: Conclusion: Converging Rhetorics and Research Agendas………………………... 143 The Implications of Rhetorical Negotiation………………………………………….... 150 Limitations of the Present and Possibilities for the Future……………….………........ 153 Glossary………………………………………………………………………………………... 158 Selected Bibliography.................................................................................................................. 160 vii LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1-1: Maine Republican Party’s “Colleen’s World” Mailer............................................... 62 Figure 4-1: R.I.P Vile Rat – From Cyno Vigil’s Tribute Video……………………………....... 109 Figure 5-1: Ars Technica’s TheTrueHOOHA Header................................................................. 127 viii PREFACE Though it is unconventional to offer a preface to a Master’s thesis, I have chosen to add a preface in the hopes of alleviating confusion about a few choices I have made in this document. The subject matter of this thesis lends itself to certain practices, which I will outline below. First, the reader will notice that style is not consistent within quoted material. I have chosen to leave undisturbed the style of writing within the comments and statements cited in the thesis. Outside the quoted material, I have followed the conventions of the Chicago Manual of Style. Within the quoted material, the reader might notice inconsistencies in a few areas: quotation mark usage (single or double), ellipses usage, misspellings, grammatical errors, and short-hand references. The material is still readable, but might stand out as not adhering to certain conventions. I have chosen to leave these various problems in quoted material to preserve the discourse in as faithful a manner as possible. This is especially necessary because I investigate in this thesis negotiations of values within communities. To edit the stylistic conventions of the communities would risk disrupting the meaning of the discourse. Second, I have included a selected bibliography instead of a full bibliography. I have selected the academic works cited in this thesis, as well as academic works contributing to my thinking. In narrowing to academic sources, I hope to reduce the clutter of the various web pages and news articles I cite, leaving the sources I most anticipate my readers seeking to explore. Finally, I have included a glossary to help clarify key terms in the thesis. Many of the terms used within the thesis can become confusing, particularly as they are used by those engaging in the networked rhetorics I investigate. The glossary is located on page 158. ix ACKNOWLEDGMENTS The creation of this Master’s thesis would not have been possible without the help of a number of generous and brilliant individuals. Many individuals have guided my research in various ways and have also cared for my person. I owe the deepest and sincerest gratitude to my remarkable adviser, Dr. Rosa Eberly. Her seminar in Rhetoric and Poetics served as the bed for the paper that