Carl Sagan's Cosmos the Rhetorical Construction of Popular Science
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CARL SAGAN’S COSMOS: THE RHETORICAL CONSTRUCTION OF POPULAR SCIENCE MYTHOLOGY A Dissertation Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of the North Dakota State University of Agriculture and Applied Science By Karen Jane Sorensen In Partial Fulfillment for the Degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY Major Department: English Option: Rhetoric, Writing and Culture April 2013 Fargo, North Dakota North Dakota State University Graduate School Title Carl Sagan’s Cosmos: The Rhetorical Construction of Popular Science Mythology By Karen Jane Sorensen The Supervisory Committee certifies that this disquisition complies with North Dakota State University’s regulations and meets the accepted standards for the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY SUPERVISORY COMMITTEE: Dr. Dale Sullivan Chair Dr. Elizabeth Birmingham Dr. Kevin Brooks Dr. Mark Harvey Approved: April 1, 2013 Dr. Kevin Brooks Date Department Chair ABSTRACT Using Carl Sagan’s Cosmos as a case study, this dissertation explores the intersection of science with popular culture and builds a new framework for rhetorically analyzing popular science programming. The arguments and research focus on the ways in which popularizing scientific information for the masses can create a type of “science fiction” rather than merely being a “transferal” of information. This metamorphosis of fact into fiction occurs as a result of the convergence of three rhetorical concepts, kairos, ethos, and aethos. Kairos is the placement of Cosmos in time. Historical and political elements (including education and entertainment) contribute to a science program’s kairos. Ethos is the appeal (or credibility) of the narrator. The audience is receptive to the information presented only if the narrator is able to establish this appeal. Personality traits that are popular outside of stereotypically educational or scientific environments are often used in popular science programs to establish ethos. Aethos is the “haunt” or the environment created for the program; it lays the groundwork for narrative control. The haunt—which is carefully and purposefully constructed through the use of dramatizations and sensory elements—creates the “viewpoint” from which an audience examines and evaluates the information or arguments presented. A program’s kairos, ethos, and aethos intertwine to determine its potential for attracting and retaining a broad audience. However, these elements carry with them an unintentional side effect. In combination, they create a mythos that can assist in the popularity and longevity of the program but they also carry with them a fictionalizing effect. iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I’d like to acknowledge the help and support of Dr. Dale Sullivan, one of the most sincerely supportive and generous academics I’ve ever known. Without his immeasurable depth of knowledge and thought-provoking insight, this dissertation would not have been possible. Without his judgment call in offering me a fellowship out of the gate, I would not have been able to leave my full-time job to attend graduate school. The rest of my life will be shaped by the decisions he made and the chance he took on me. My respect and appreciation can never be adequately expressed. iv PREFACE I watched Cosmos as a child and despite many subsequent viewings, I can vividly recall certain scenes, framed from within the context of my early-1980s living room. One of the most striking images emblazoned on my young mind was the Cosmic Calendar and my father’s remark about how it put everything into perspective: “It really makes you see how insignificant we are,” he said. A man who appreciated common sense, my father was not one to think highly of the esoteric, the overly poetic, or the professional academic who spoke of these things. To him, purpose equaled value and these two things could not be separated. Empty theories or self-aggrandizing concepts were nothing but hot air. Yet, while watching Cosmos and being led through the galaxy by Sagan, an academic speaking of traditionally esoteric concepts using poetic language, he opened himself up to the possibilities. And so did I. Working on parts of this dissertation has been like having a conversation with my father, who has been gone now for over five years. He didn’t live to see me enter my post- graduate career, nor to see me hired for a tenure-track position in the Montana Rockies. From those mountains I plan to watch the night sky, like we did when I was a child, camping out by Cow Creek in South Dakota. I plan to surveil the stars and the planets from our own tiny blue dot in the cosmos, to open my imagination and to wonder about them, as my father taught me to do. And I will teach my girls that some dreams have roots in common sense. v TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT ............................................................................................................................. iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ..................................................................................................... iv PREFACE ................................................................................................................................. v LIST OF FIGURES ............................................................................................................... viii KAIROS AND COSMOS .......................................................................................................... 1 The Rhetorical Situation, Kairos, and Popular Science ........................................................ 3 Rhetorical Challenges of Audience in Popular Science ....................................................... 7 Politics and Public Perception of Science ............................................................................. 9 Popular Entertainment and Environmental Concerns of the 1970s .................................... 13 Popular Science in the 1970s .............................................................................................. 17 Cosmos Captures its Kairotic Moment ............................................................................... 20 Conclusion .......................................................................................................................... 24 ETHOS AND THE POPULAR SCIENCE PERSONA .......................................................... 27 Formation of Ethos ............................................................................................................. 28 Formation of Persona ......................................................................................................... 32 Persona in Cosmos .............................................................................................................. 35 “The Shores of the Cosmic Ocean” .................................................................................... 38 Scientific Ethos and the Science Popularizer ...................................................................... 52 Conclusion .......................................................................................................................... 55 AETHOS AND THE UNIVERSE .......................................................................................... 57 The Rhetorical Function of Aethos ..................................................................................... 57 vi The Creation of Aethos ....................................................................................................... 62 The Creation of Place .......................................................................................................... 68 The Cosmos Haunt .............................................................................................................. 72 Aethos and Enthymeme ....................................................................................................... 76 Conclusion .......................................................................................................................... 80 COSMOS AND THE CREATION OF A SCIENCE FICTION MYTHOS ............................ 82 Rhetorical Construction of Mythos ..................................................................................... 84 Dramatic Structure of Cosmos ............................................................................................ 86 Mythic Narrative in Cosmos ............................................................................................... 89 Science Fiction’s Influence on Cosmos .............................................................................. 92 Mythos: Representation Versus Reflection ......................................................................... 97 Mythos and the Lasting Popularity of Cosmos ................................................................. 100 Conclusion ........................................................................................................................ 103 IMPLICATIONS FOR SCIENCE, ARGUMENTATION, AND THE FUTURE ............... 104 Rhetorical Lenses and Scientific Rhetoric ........................................................................ 104 Deliberative Rhetoric and Cosmos .................................................................................... 108 Questions and the Future of Cosmos ................................................................................ 115 WORKS CITED ................................................................................................................... 117 vii LIST OF FIGURES Figure Page 1. A friendly, welcoming smile greets viewers