DOCSLIB.ORG

The Rhetorical Rearmament of Ronald Reagan

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
The Rhetorical Rearmament of Ronald Reagan "An Evil Empire": The Rhetorical Rearmament of Ronald Reagan A dissertation presented to the faculty of the College of Arts and Sciences of Ohio University In partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree Doctor of Philosophy Jon Richard Peterson June 2010 © 2010 Jon Richard Peterson. All Rights Reserved. 2 This dissertation titled "An Evil Empire": The Rhetorical Rearmament of Ronald Reagan by JON RICHARD PETERSON has been approved for the Department of History and the College of Arts and Sciences by Chester J. Pach, Jr. Associate Professor of History Benjamin M. Ogles Dean, College of Arts and Sciences 3 ABSTRACT PETERSON, JON R., Ph.D., June 2010, History "An Evil Empire": The Rhetorical Rearmament of Ronald Reagan (311 pp.) Director of Dissertation: Chester J. Pach, Jr. This project examines the origins, drafting, and effects of Ronald Reagan’s Evil Empire speech. My dissertation introduces this important address by exploring Reagan’s political ideology during his pre-presidential years. His ideological polemics coexisted with his pragmatic governing style. I subsequently explain how ending the foreign policy of détente with the Soviet Union led to the rise of the Nuclear Freeze movement, a broad- based, bipartisan, interfaith, international peace group. The dissertation centers on the reaction by peace activists, evangelical Christians, the Kremlin, and the mainstream news media to rhetorical rearmament, Reagan’s Manichean and moralistic characterization of his foreign policy ideology. My project concludes by studying the political phenomenon of “evil empire” over the past quarter century The importance of the study derives from the political mobilization of the White House against this incarnation of the peace movement among religious voters, in the news media, and from the bully pulpit. My dissertation examines the varying levels of support the Nuclear Freeze movement received from peace activists, the mainstream news media, and religious organizations. The president needed to counteract the movement’s popularity by creating a favorable national discourse on behalf of his military rearmament. Instead, Reagan’s oratory exacerbated the Cold War tensions by deeming the Soviet Union “an evil empire” and “the focus of evil in the modern world.” 4 The president found himself caught between his desire for nuclear arms reductions and his unyielding belief in the inherent evil of Soviet Communism. Throughout his presidency, Reagan alternated between ideological and pragmatic approaches toward the Soviet Union. The Evil Empire speech was the height of ideology. Yet, soon after the address the president came to favor pragmatism than ideology. He embraced Mikhail Gorbachev and created the conditions necessary to end the Cold War. Rhetorical rearmament had the unintended consequences of galvanizing the Nuclear Freeze movement, hindering U.S.-Soviet diplomacy, and contributing to the end of the Cold War. Approved: _____________________________________________________________ Chester J. Pach, Jr. Associate Professor of History 5 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS As a graduate student at Ohio University, I have benefitted from the small and collegial community in bowels of Bentley Annex and the musty hall of Brown House. I owe many debts to the indefatigable administrator at Brown House, Kara Dunfee. Contemporary History Institute Directors Mike Grow and Steve Miner along with History Department Chairs Norm Goda and Patrick Barr-Melej and Graduate Chairs Katherine Jellison and Chester Pach helped me secure vital financial funding for research and writing. Among my graduate student colleagues Bill Knoblauch helped push me over the finish line. Jeff Bloodworth was a sounding board for many of my early ideas about this project. Paul Isherwood has offered insightful commentary and suggests about this project for the past six years. I owe a debt of gratitude to the Casa Cantina Crew of Bill Knoblauch, Paul Isherwood, Patrick Campbell, Todd Pfeiffer, and Jack Epstein who read chapters with the insufficient bribe of nachos and beer. James Waite provided ideas and encouragement from the Southern Hemisphere. Steve Heise, Robert Davis, Brent Geary, Christian Peterson, Ricky Garlitz, Renee LaFleur, Jeremy Hatfield, Shane McCrory, Pete Wickman, Ben Lowenberg, and Julian Nemeth also contributed to the success of this project. I have benefitted from the generous financial support of the Contemporary History Institute, the History Department, the Baker Peace Committee, and George Washington University’s Institute for European, Russian and Eurasian Studies. Beyond Ohio University, Fredrik Logevall, Jeremi Suri, Kyle Longley, James Graham Wilson, Hallvard Notaker, and my fellow participants at the SHAFR Summer 6 Institute collaborated, helped, or offered constructive criticism at various stages. I was greatly helped by the archivists and staff at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley, CA, the Richard Nixon Presidential Library in Yorba Linda, CA, the Billy Graham Center Archives and National Association of Evangelicals collection at Wheaton College in Wheaton, IL, and the Vanderbilt Television News Archive in Nashville, TN. My family and friends provided invaluable support for my graduate student lifestyle. I have felt the support of my mother, Ingrid, and my uncle, Fred Peterson, from preschool to Ph.D. My father-in-law Greg Carlson became a book mule for our unexpected long haul of dissertation books to and from Minnesota. My mother-in-law, Dorene Carlson was a source of steady positivity. Thanks to my brothers-in-law Matt Ritz and Josh Carlson for demonstrating interest in my project. Thanks to Mandy Ritz to opening her house. Lucas Moellers housed and fed me during my research trip to Chicago. Jessica Seeley braved the Wisconsin State Historical Society archives to find needed documents at a time when I was indisposed. Renee Geary helped evade fines at Alden Library. The Decorah Mafia for supported and encouraged me throughout this endeavor, especially Brad Albers and Ben Rudolf. My undergraduate thesis advisor, Marv Slind, set me on the course that would turn my vague idea of seeking a PhD in history into a reality. This study has benefitted from the oversight of my dissertation committee. Maria Fanis offered a fresh perspective from a political scientist’s viewpoint. Alonzo Hamby challenged me to reconsider some of my assumptions and a result made my work stronger. Kevin Mattson offered the perspective of a participant in events discusses in 7 this study. He also provided inspiration regarding how to write a book about a speech. I benefitted from our long conversations ranging from contemporary history to current politics. My advisor, Chester Pach, has helped me in immeasurable ways throughout my many years in Athens. His scrutiny, constructive criticism, and encouragement ensured that I created a work of which I can be proud. On a personal note, I would also like to thank all the doctors, nurses, and staff of the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit at the University of Minnesota’s Fairview Riverside Hospital in Minneapolis and the Special Care Nursery at Fairview Southdale Hospital in Edina, MN, especially Dr. Ted Thompson, and nurses: Deb, Sarah V., Amy, and Lizzie. Without their expert and dedicated care for our premature son, this project and its author would be where we are today. Final thanks go to my wife Anna, who moved to Appalachia, embarked on her career, bore us a miraculous and perfect baby boy, and vigorously supported me. 8 DEDICATION For Anna, Anders, Geneva, and Marilee Peterson Four Generations who have helped sustain me 9 TABLE OF CONTENTS Page Abstract ............................................................................................................................... 3 Acknowledgments............................................................................................................... 5 Dedication ........................................................................................................................... 8 Introduction ....................................................................................................................... 10 Chapter One: Developing Reagan’s Anticommunism ...................................................... 20 Chapter Two: The Nuclear Freeze Movement and the White House ............................... 53 Chapter Three: Conservatives Seek More Rhetorical Rearmament ................................ 99 Chapter Four: The Evil Empire Speech .......................................................................... 121 Chapter Five: Mixed Reviews on the Evening News ..................................................... 149 Chapter Six: Christian and Conservative Reaction to the Evil Empire Speech ............. 169 Chapter Seven: The Rhetorical Freeze, 1983-1985 ....................................................... 190 Chapter Eight: Toward Rhetorical Disarmament ........................................................... 218 Chapter Nine: The Meanings of Ronald Reagan and “Evil Empire” ............................ 248 Conclusion ...................................................................................................................... 275 Bibliography and Sources ............................................................................................... 283 10 INTRODUCTION The American people elected Ronald Reagan in November 1980 because he represented something Jimmy Carter no longer did. Reagan presented himself as a leader who would restore
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Monica Prasad Northwestern University Department of Sociology
    SPRING 2016 NEW YORK UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF LAW COLLOQUIUM ON TAX POLICY AND PUBLIC FINANCE “The Popular Origins of Neoliberalism in the Reagan Tax Cut of 1981” Monica Prasad Northwestern University Department of Sociology May 3, 2016 Vanderbilt-208 Time: 4:00-5:50 pm Number 14 SCHEDULE FOR 2016 NYU TAX POLICY COLLOQUIUM (All sessions meet on Tuesdays from 4-5:50 pm in Vanderbilt 208, NYU Law School) 1. January 19 – Eric Talley, Columbia Law School. “Corporate Inversions and the unbundling of Regulatory Competition.” 2. January 26 – Michael Simkovic, Seton Hall Law School. “The Knowledge Tax.” 3. February 2 – Lucy Martin, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Department of Political Science. “The Structure of American Income Tax Policy Preferences.” 4. February 9 – Donald Marron, Urban Institute. “Should Governments Tax Unhealthy Foods and Drinks?" 5. February 23 – Reuven S. Avi-Yonah, University of Michigan Law School. “Evaluating BEPS” 6. March 1 – Kevin Markle, University of Iowa Business School. “The Effect of Financial Constraints on Income Shifting by U.S. Multinationals.” 7. March 8 – Theodore P. Seto, Loyola Law School, Los Angeles. “Preference-Shifting and the Non-Falsifiability of Optimal Tax Theory.” 8. March 22 – James Kwak, University of Connecticut School of Law. “Reducing Inequality With a Retrospective Tax on Capital.” 9. March 29 – Miranda Stewart, The Australian National University. “Transnational Tax Law: Fiction or Reality, Future or Now?” 10. April 5 – Richard Prisinzano, U.S. Treasury Department, and Danny Yagan, University of California at Berkeley Economics Department, et al. “Business In The United States: Who Owns It And How Much Tax Do They Pay?” 11.
    [Show full text]
  • Myth, Metatext, Continuity and Cataclysm in Dc Comics’ Crisis on Infinite Earths
    WORLDS WILL LIVE, WORLDS WILL DIE: MYTH, METATEXT, CONTINUITY AND CATACLYSM IN DC COMICS’ CRISIS ON INFINITE EARTHS Adam C. Murdough A Thesis Submitted to the Graduate College of Bowling Green State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of MASTER OF ARTS August 2006 Committee: Angela Nelson, Advisor Marilyn Motz Jeremy Wallach ii ABSTRACT Angela Nelson, Advisor In 1985-86, DC Comics launched an extensive campaign to revamp and revise its most important superhero characters for a new era. In many cases, this involved streamlining, retouching, or completely overhauling the characters’ fictional back-stories, while similarly renovating the shared fictional context in which their adventures take place, “the DC Universe.” To accomplish this act of revisionist history, DC resorted to a text-based performative gesture, Crisis on Infinite Earths. This thesis analyzes the impact of this singular text and the phenomena it inspired on the comic-book industry and the DC Comics fan community. The first chapter explains the nature and importance of the convention of “continuity” (i.e., intertextual diegetic storytelling, unfolding progressively over time) in superhero comics, identifying superhero fans’ attachment to continuity as a source of reading pleasure and cultural expressivity as the key factor informing the creation of the Crisis on Infinite Earths text. The second chapter consists of an eschatological reading of the text itself, in which it is argued that Crisis on Infinite Earths combines self-reflexive metafiction with the ideologically inflected symbolic language of apocalypse myth to provide DC Comics fans with a textual "rite of transition," to win their acceptance for DC’s mid-1980s project of self- rehistoricization and renewal.
    [Show full text]
  • How Generations Feel When Brands Take a Stand
    How Generations Feel When Brands Take a Stand ©Copyright 2018 Quester The Set-Up Quester is in the process of conducting a new joint project with 747 Insights and Collaborata: GENERATION NATION 2019: Defining America’s Gen Z, Millennials, Generation X and Boomers This study provides a comparison of attitudes and behaviors across these four cohorts, to expand upon current intelligence and cut to the core of what it means to be an American in 2019. Aided by technology, media, politics, and more, we can see Generational values shifting at a faster pace than we’ve ever seen before. One of the discussion areas centered around perceptions of whether brands should take a stand on social and political issues … So Let’s Recap Generation Nation - Should Brands Take a Stand? GEN Z MILLENNIALS They probably shouldn’t. It depends. It could cause tension, and employees may not Maybe … if it’s not too agree. extreme But it could be okay if it’s not offensive and they really believe in it. GEN X BOOMERS It’s not really my It’s their right, but they business – they can if might lose business. they want to. They probably shouldn’t do it. Unless But it’s probably not for it’s something really the right reasons. non-controversial. Generation Nation Brand Completion So we asked all of those questions about general brand perspective and Brand thoughts! finished all of the discussions. The Best Laid Plans … And then— one week later … The Reaction So we went back in and talked to about 100 people in each generation.
    [Show full text]
  • More Than a Municipal Campaign: Speech in Haverhill, Massachusetts (November 27, 1899)
    More Than a Municipal Campaign: Speech in Haverhill, Massachusetts (November 27, 1899) Ladies and Gentlemen, Citizens of Haverhill:— A year ago the name of Haverhill was flashed around the world. On Wednesday next [Dec. 6, 1899] the magnificent victory achieved then will have ben ratified by an increased majority. This is something more than a municipal campaign. There are issues involved that are of vital and commanding interest to every man, woman, and child in Haverhill, in Massachusetts, throughout the length and breadth of the land. The competitive system, with its extreme wealth upon the one hand, its abject and widespread poverty upon the other, its political corruption, its economic servitude, its social demoralization is on trial. What pen or tongue, from primeval man to the dullest intellect, can describe the effect of this struggle upon the great mass of the working people? Multiplied millions of them answer to the description of the embruted peasant in the poem of Edwin Markham, a poem fraught with such significance that it blazed the immortality of the author on wings of lightning around the world: Bowed by the weight of centuries he leans Upon his hoe and gazes on the ground, The emptiness of ages in his face, And on his back the burden of the world. Who made him dead to rapture and despair, A thing that grieves not and that never hopes. Stolid and stunned, a brother to the ox? Who loosened and let down this brutal jaw? Whose was the hand that slanted back this brow? Whose breath blew out the light within this brain? 1 The capitalist system must answer for this appalling indictment at the bar of humanity.
    [Show full text]
  • The Impact of the New Right on the Reagan Administration
    LONDON SCHOOL OF ECONOMICS UNIVERSITY OF LONDON THE IMPACT OF THE NEW RIGHT ON THE REAGAN ADMINISTRATION: KIRKPATRICK & UNESCO AS. A TEST CASE BY Isaac Izy Kfir LONDON 1998 UMI Number: U148638 All rights reserved INFORMATION TO ALL USERS The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted. In the unlikely event that the author did not send a complete manuscript and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if material had to be removed, a note will indicate the deletion. Dissertation Publishing UMI U148638 Published by ProQuest LLC 2014. Copyright in the Dissertation held by the Author. Microform Edition © ProQuest LLC. All rights reserved. This work is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States Code. ProQuest LLC 789 East Eisenhower Parkway P.O. Box 1346 Ann Arbor, Ml 48106-1346 2 ABSTRACT The aim of this research is to investigate whether the Reagan administration was influenced by ‘New Right’ ideas. Foreign policy issues were chosen as test cases because the presidency has more power in this area which is why it could promote an aggressive stance toward the United Nations and encourage withdrawal from UNESCO with little impunity. Chapter 1 deals with American society after 1945. It shows how the ground was set for the rise of Reagan and the New Right as America moved from a strong affinity with New Deal liberalism to a new form of conservatism, which the New Right and Reagan epitomised. Chapter 2 analyses the New Right as a coalition of three distinctive groups: anti-liberals, New Christian Right, and neoconservatives.
    [Show full text]
  • Building Cold War Warriors: Socialization of the Final Cold War Generation
    BUILDING COLD WAR WARRIORS: SOCIALIZATION OF THE FINAL COLD WAR GENERATION Steven Robert Bellavia A Dissertation Submitted to the Graduate College of Bowling Green State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY May 2018 Committee: Andrew M. Schocket, Advisor Karen B. Guzzo Graduate Faculty Representative Benjamin P. Greene Rebecca J. Mancuso © 2018 Steven Robert Bellavia All Rights Reserved iii ABSTRACT Andrew Schocket, Advisor This dissertation examines the experiences of the final Cold War generation. I define this cohort as a subset of Generation X born between 1965 and 1971. The primary focus of this dissertation is to study the ways this cohort interacted with the three messages found embedded within the Cold War us vs. them binary. These messages included an emphasis on American exceptionalism, a manufactured and heightened fear of World War III, as well as the othering of the Soviet Union and its people. I begin the dissertation in the 1970s, - during the period of détente- where I examine the cohort’s experiences in elementary school. There they learned who was important within the American mythos and the rituals associated with being an American. This is followed by an examination of 1976’s bicentennial celebration, which focuses on not only the planning for the celebration but also specific events designed to fulfill the two prime directives of the celebration. As the 1980s came around not only did the Cold War change but also the cohort entered high school. Within this stage of this cohorts education, where I focus on the textbooks used by the cohort and the ways these textbooks reinforced notions of patriotism and being an American citizen.
    [Show full text]
  • What Makes a Leader Effective? U.S. Boomers, Xers, and Millennials Weigh In
    WHITE PAPER - News and Insight for Learning, Development and HR Leaders What Makes a Leader Effective? U.S. Boomers, Xers, and Millennials Weigh In By Jennifer J. Deal, Sarah Stawiski, William A. Gentry, and Kristin L. Cullen Contents Introduction 3 Generational Cohorts 4 Survey Results: 5 What Makes a Leader Effective? Developing Leaders for All Generations 11 Conclusion 12 About the Research 13 Endnotes 13 About the Authors 14 Introduction Conventional wisdom suggests Generations at Work in the USA that Baby Boomers, Gen Xers, and Millennials in the United States are Most of the workforce in the U.S. is made up of three fundamentally different from one generations: Baby Boomers (born 1946 to 1963), Gen Xers another. And certainly there are (born 1964 to 1979), and Millennials (born after 1980).1,2,3 real differences—including the The post-war generation was called the Baby Boom way we dress, the way we consume because of the rapid increase in birth rate at the end of information, the music we listen World War II. Baby Boomers weren’t born when WWII to, and ideas about appropriate ended, but experienced post-war prosperity that resulted personal behavior. in middle-class Americans having access to utilities such Many organizational leaders are as central heating, running hot water, household anticipating a substantial upheaval appliances, televisions, and automobiles. Though during in work culture and expectations as their youth Baby Boomers were thought of as being more Millennials enter the workforce anti-authority,4 currently they are typically characterized and more Baby Boomers retire. But as materialistic workaholics who are at the top of the will there need to be wholesale authority structure, and are focused on their own personal changes in how leaders need to fulfillment, acquisition of things, status, and authority.5,6,7 behave to be effective? Generation X is the cohort born in the U.S.
    [Show full text]
  • Notes and Sources for Evil Geniuses: the Unmaking of America: a Recent History
    Notes and Sources for Evil Geniuses: The Unmaking of America: A Recent History Introduction xiv “If infectious greed is the virus” Kurt Andersen, “City of Schemes,” The New York Times, Oct. 6, 2002. xvi “run of pedal-to-the-medal hypercapitalism” Kurt Andersen, “American Roulette,” New York, December 22, 2006. xx “People of the same trade” Adam Smith, The Wealth of Nations, ed. Andrew Skinner, 1776 (London: Penguin, 1999) Book I, Chapter X. Chapter 1 4 “The discovery of America offered” Alexis de Tocqueville, Democracy In America, trans. Arthur Goldhammer (New York: Library of America, 2012), Book One, Introductory Chapter. 4 “A new science of politics” Tocqueville, Democracy In America, Book One, Introductory Chapter. 4 “The inhabitants of the United States” Tocqueville, Democracy In America, Book One, Chapter XVIII. 5 “there was virtually no economic growth” Robert J Gordon. “Is US economic growth over? Faltering innovation confronts the six headwinds.” Policy Insight No. 63. Centre for Economic Policy Research, September, 2012. --Thomas Piketty, “World Growth from the Antiquity (growth rate per period),” Quandl. 6 each citizen’s share of the economy Richard H. Steckel, “A History of the Standard of Living in the United States,” in EH.net (Economic History Association, 2020). --Andrew McAfee and Erik Brynjolfsson, The Second Machine Age: Work, Progress, and Prosperity in a Time of Brilliant Technologies (New York: W.W. Norton, 2016), p. 98. 6 “Constant revolutionizing of production” Friedrich Engels and Karl Marx, Manifesto of the Communist Party (Moscow: Progress Publishers, 1969), Chapter I. 7 from the early 1840s to 1860 Tomas Nonnenmacher, “History of the U.S.
    [Show full text]
  • How Campaign Songs Sold the Image of Presidential Candidates
    University of Central Florida STARS Honors Undergraduate Theses UCF Theses and Dissertations 2019 Music and the Presidency: How Campaign Songs Sold the Image of Presidential Candidates Gary M. Bogers University of Central Florida Part of the Music Commons, and the United States History Commons Find similar works at: https://stars.library.ucf.edu/honorstheses University of Central Florida Libraries http://library.ucf.edu This Open Access is brought to you for free and open access by the UCF Theses and Dissertations at STARS. It has been accepted for inclusion in Honors Undergraduate Theses by an authorized administrator of STARS. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Recommended Citation Bogers, Gary M., "Music and the Presidency: How Campaign Songs Sold the Image of Presidential Candidates" (2019). Honors Undergraduate Theses. 511. https://stars.library.ucf.edu/honorstheses/511 MUSIC AND THE PRESIDENCY: HOW CAMPAIGN SONGS SOLD THE IMAGE OF PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATES by GARY MICHAEL BOGERS JR. A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Honors in the Major Program in Music Performance in the College of Arts and Humanities and in The Burnett Honors College at the University of Central Florida Orlando, Florida Spring Term, 2019 Thesis Chair: Dr. Scott Warfield Co-chairs: Dr. Alexander Burtzos & Dr. Joe Gennaro ©2019 Gary Michael Bogers Jr. ii ABSTRACT In this thesis, I will discuss the importance of campaign songs and how they were used throughout three distinctly different U.S. presidential elections: the 1960 campaign of Senator John Fitzgerald Kennedy against Vice President Richard Milhouse Nixon, the 1984 reelection campaign of President Ronald Wilson Reagan against Vice President Walter Frederick Mondale, and the 2008 campaign of Senator Barack Hussein Obama against Senator John Sidney McCain.
    [Show full text]
  • A TIME for CHOOSING – a Speech by Ronald Reagan – 1964 – (Abbreviated Version)
    A TIME FOR CHOOSING – A speech by Ronald Reagan – 1964 – (Abbreviated version) Reprinted by SB - July 23, 2014 50 years later Hey SB! I started to grind my teeth the other day when Elizabeth Warren spoke at Netroots Nation, a convention for liberal bloggers and activists. She outlined 11 tenets of progressivism, and after each expressed belief or goal she emphasized it by saying emphatically: AND WE WILL FIGHT FOR IT! Actually SB, she did a VERY COMPETENT job of whipping this group of radical leftists into a collective lather. She’s good, SB! Don’t dismiss her! She’s a formidable force to deal with! Why not take her on in some fashion? …… And SOON! – Stefano Bachovich – obscure curmudgeon and wise political pundit – a prolific purveyor of opinions on just about everything – SB’s primary “go to guy.” OK Stefano! Back off! I’m on it! There’s nothing better to inspire the conservative troops than a speech by Ronald Reagan. This is one of several similar presentations Reagan gave as a stump speech, at speaking engagements, and on a memorable night in 1964 in support of Barry Goldwater's presidential campaign. This version is from that broadcast. As he expressed to all Americans: We have come to a time for choosing!!! - SB ______________________ I am going to talk of controversial things. I make no apology for this. It's time we asked ourselves if we still know the freedoms intended for us by the Founding Fathers. James Madison said, "We base all our experiments on the capacity of mankind for self government." This idea -- that government was beholden to the people, that it had no other source of power -- is still the newest, most unique idea in all the long history of man's relation to man.
    [Show full text]
  • Relationality and Masculinity in Superhero Narratives Kevin Lee Chiat Bachelor of Arts (Communication Studies) with Second Class Honours
    i Being a Superhero is Amazing, Everyone Should Try It: Relationality and Masculinity in Superhero Narratives Kevin Lee Chiat Bachelor of Arts (Communication Studies) with Second Class Honours This thesis is presented for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy of The University of Western Australia School of Humanities 2021 ii THESIS DECLARATION I, Kevin Chiat, certify that: This thesis has been substantially accomplished during enrolment in this degree. This thesis does not contain material which has been submitted for the award of any other degree or diploma in my name, in any university or other tertiary institution. In the future, no part of this thesis will be used in a submission in my name, for any other degree or diploma in any university or other tertiary institution without the prior approval of The University of Western Australia and where applicable, any partner institution responsible for the joint-award of this degree. This thesis does not contain any material previously published or written by another person, except where due reference has been made in the text. This thesis does not violate or infringe any copyright, trademark, patent, or other rights whatsoever of any person. This thesis does not contain work that I have published, nor work under review for publication. Signature Date: 17/12/2020 ii iii ABSTRACT Since the development of the superhero genre in the late 1930s it has been a contentious area of cultural discourse, particularly concerning its depictions of gender politics. A major critique of the genre is that it simply represents an adolescent male power fantasy; and presents a world view that valorises masculinist individualism.
    [Show full text]
  • The University of Missouri Agriculture During the Reagan Years A
    The University of Missouri Agriculture During the Reagan Years A Dissertation Submitted to The Faculty of the Department of History In Candidacy For The Degree of Doctor of Philosophy By Jay Ward Columbia, Missouri May 2015 Copyright 2015 by Jay Woodward Ward All rights reserved. The undersigned, appointed by the Dean of the Graduate School, have examined the dissertation entitled Agriculture During the Reagan Years Presented by Jay Woodward Ward In Candidacy for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy And hereby certify that, in their opinion, it is worthy of acceptance. ______________________________________________________________________ Dr. Robert Collins ______________________________________________________________________ Dr. Mark Carroll ______________________________________________________________________ Dr. John Frymire _______________________________________________________________________ Dr. Catherine Rymph _______________________________________________________________________ Dr. Patrick Westhoff Dedication To Rose, Kelly, Brian, Janelle, Mickey, Lauren, Payton, Addison, Evelynne, and Gibson— the center of my world. Acknowledgements I owe undying gratitude to my advisor, Professor Robert M. Collins, who is a renowned scholar and an award-winning teacher, and without whose patient guidance I could not have completed this remarkable journey. I also want to thank my committee, Professor Mark Carroll, Professor John Frymire, Professor Catherine Rymph, and Professor Patrick Westhoff, all of whom lent me their considerable expertise and wisdom, but more importantly to me, they treated this very non-traditional student with extraordinary kindness. And my gratitude to my sister, Deborah Haseltine, my computer expert, who always was able to lead me out of the morasses into which I stumbled almost every time I sat down at the computer. ii Contents Acknowledgements ii List of Tables iv Introduction 1 Chapter 1. The Second Agricultural Revolution 20 Chapter 2.
    [Show full text]