BARACK OBAMA AND THE AFRICAN IDEA: TOPOLOGY, TROPOLOGY, AND STASIS IN SPATIAL COUNTER NARRATIVES By © 2012 KUNDAI VICTOR CHIRINDO 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. ________________________________ Dr. Dave Tell, Committee Chairperson ________________________________ Dr. Liz Macgonagle ________________________________ Dr. Donn W. Parson ________________________________ Dr. Dorthy Pennington ________________________________ Dr. Robert C. Rowland Date Defended: August 29, 2012 ii The Dissertation Committee for Kundai V. Chirindo certifies that this is the approved version of the following dissertation: BARACK OBAMA AND THE AFRICAN IDEA: TOPOLOGY, TROPOLOGY, AND STASIS IN SPATIAL COUNTER NARRATIVES ________________________________ Dr. Dave Tell, Committee Chairperson Date approved: September 4, 2012 iii ABSTRACT There is no region of world outside of the United States where Obama’s meteoric rise generated as much excitement as in Africa. It is also uncontroversial to assert that Obama’s rhetorical skill was a major factor behind his success. Yet surprisingly little work has been done on the intersection of Obama’s discourse and its effect on Africa. This study endeavors to fill this gap in the scholarship on Obama. Drawing on the tools of rhetoric—theories about topology, tropology and stasis, this dissertation traces the visions of Africa implicit in Obama’s rhetoric and politics. The study analyzes Obama’s ideas of Africa in three stages of his political career; before he was a national figure, during his campaigns, and in his Africa policy after he became president. In short, I argue that the ideas of Africa conveyed in the discourse of Obama challenge conventional wisdom on the continent’s significance in global affairs. While demonstrating Obama’s visions of Africa, the study also demonstrates the utility of rhetorical theories in both domestic politics and international relations. There are three findings that emerge from this study. First, is the finding that Obama does not subscribe to other people’s ideas about the continent. He developed his own understanding of the continent from his experiences. Second, Obama believes that the wellbeing of Africans is fundamentally connected to American politics. Finally, Obama understands African countries’ relationships with the United States outside of the narrow realism of war on which virtually all of his presidential predecessors have relied in their dealings with African nations in the past. In that regard, the study shows that Obama’s discourse about the continent marks significant a break in the history of U.S.-Africa relations. 4 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Chara chimwe hachitswanye inda (Shona proverb meaning “You cannot crush a louse with only one thumb”) They say it takes a village to raise a child. My experience has taught me that it takes a lot more than a village to educate a man. For that reason, I am grateful to too many people to list in this space. The following are the few without whose support I could not have finished this project. First and foremost is Dave, my advisor, mentor, friend, and fellow coffee shop enthusiast. Thank you for indulging and encouraging me even when my ideas were utterly incomprehensible. My committee members have molded my intellectual growth in more ways than I can explain. Dr. Parson taught me every Burkean thing I know and was a reliable source of many cautions that kept me from making a fool out of myself at the University of Kansas. I could not ask for a better model for commitment to the study of the rhetorical practices of the African diaspora and a more creative intellectual mind than Dr. Pennington. Dr. Rowland, your classes always stretched my thinking, and working for you made me a better teacher. Dr. MacGonagle your commitment to carrying out a research program on African identities is a standard I hope to one day emulate. I thank my family, Mom, Celia and Rod “Pops” Heckathorn, Lani, Nobu, and Larry, for believing what I do is worthwhile even when they didn’t care to hear my long rants. I also have friends who have been unbelievably loyal through the years. In the U.S.A.; Bradley Drake, Justin Fogel, James and Melissa Williams, Nick and Leslie Nepveux, Ben Warner, Astrid Villamil, Ryan Shepard, and Nati Mabachi. There are those I grew up with who continue to lavish their support on me from across the Zimbabwean diaspora; Bothwell Muviiwa, Harold Dendamera, Joe Chitiga, James Kambudzi, Markie Jakachi, Rumbi Nhare, and Nyasha Mukoyi. Ndimi mega vadikani. 5 The Communication Studies departments at Bethel University and KU took me in and nurtured whatever academic capabilities I have today. Without them I would not be. I am grateful to Drs Andrew Gess and Leta Frazer at Bethel for making the study of communication and rhetoric too enticing for me to ignore. Suzanne Grachek and John Fackler have been instrumental in helping me navigate the intricacies of an academic department. Last, but by no means least, to Brenda, my wife, friend, and longsuffering supporter, I look forward to having our evenings together back again. I love you. 6 ABSTRACT ........................................................................................................................................................ iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ............................................................................................................................ 4 CHAPTER I: Charting Obama’s African Visions ......................................................................................... 7 Literature Review ......................................................................................................................................................... 12 Obama and the rhetorical tradition ....................................................................................................................... 12 Africa: the Strange Absence ................................................................................................................................... 15 Methodology ................................................................................................................................................................. 17 Plan of the study ........................................................................................................................................................... 19 Chapter two .............................................................................................................................................................. 19 Chapter three ............................................................................................................................................................ 22 Chapter four ............................................................................................................................................................. 24 Chapter five .............................................................................................................................................................. 26 CHAPTER II: Obama and the African Heterotopia ................................................................................. 29 Covering the Senator’s “homecoming” ............................................................................................................... 36 Toward heterotopic rhetorics ................................................................................................................................ 40 Dreaming of Africa ................................................................................................................................................. 44 Conclusion ................................................................................................................................................................ 54 CHAPTER III: African Visions and the Tropology of campaign rhetoric ............................................ 58 Tropology, Epistemology, and Africa in the 2008 Campaign .......................................................................... 61 Birthers and the African Metonymy ..................................................................................................................... 64 Obama’s African Visions ........................................................................................................................................ 76 Conclusion ................................................................................................................................................................ 84 CHAPTER IV: Africa in American Wars .................................................................................................... 87 Stasis and Foreign Relations .................................................................................................................................. 89 A Brief History of U.S.-Africa relations ............................................................................................................... 90 Africa in George W. Bush’s Prophetic Dualism ................................................................................................. 91 Beyond the war; Barack Obama and the new African partnership ................................................................. 99 CHAPTER V: Conclusion and Future Research ....................................................................................