Constituting the Monster Inside: Ideological Effects of Post-Apocalyptic Depictions in the Walking Dead
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Constituting the Monster Inside: Ideological Effects of Post-Apocalyptic Depictions in The Walking Dead Adam Garrett Hughes Thesis submitted to the faculty of the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts In Communication Beth M. Waggenspack, Chair Buddy W. Howell Jenn B. Mackay June 25, 2014 Blacksburg, Virginia Keywords: constitutive rhetoric, ideology, narratives, The Walking Dead Constituting the Monster Inside: Ideological Effects of Post-Apocalyptic Depictions in The Walking Dead Adam Garrett Hughes ABSTRACT Working from Charland’s (1987) description of constitutive rhetoric, this thesis is concerned what the popular zombie apocalypse television series The Walking Dead (TWD) has to say regarding survival behavior in a post-apocalyptic world. TWD’s plot focuses primarily on the relationships between survivor characters situated among the crumbling remains of society and humanity. An attempt is made to show how TWD (1) establishes a common ideology among its characters, and therefore (2) constitutes its characters as a primary audience through an ideology of inhumanity by three narrative ideological effects. In doing so, the study aims to advance understanding of constitutive rhetoric in a temporal sense and also to emphasize that popular culture artifacts suggest viewers as secondary audiences and implied auditors tied to ideologies. The results of this analysis suggest the new order of a post-apocalyptic world binds survivors into a collective and transhistorical subject. These characters are tied to their past before the apocalypse and also become relatively relatable for viewers. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I must acknowledge the patience and support received from my committee members. Thank you Dr. Howell for providing encouraging words and always being available to talk about the project. Thank you Dr. Mackay for supporting my vision of a thesis examining effects of zombie apocalypse depictions. Finally, thank you Dr. Waggenspack for your amazing efforts to help me develop this project from a half-baked term paper into a comprehensive thesis. This learning process has not been without struggle, but your kind support and guidance have facilitated my growth as a scholar since our first meeting in March of 2012. Also, I would be remiss to not recognize the developments in my ideas during discussions with students and faculty in the department of communication at Virginia Tech. I’m especially appreciative of guidance in seminars from Drs. Rachel Holloway, John Tedesco, and Beth Waggenspack, and the friendship of Mr. Zack Sowder and Ms. Kayla Hastrup. Additionally, I received helpful feedback and encouragement from members of the Southern States Communication Association when I presented an early draft of these ideas at the association’s April 2014 meeting in New Orleans, LA. In sum, being a student in our discipline is made a wonderful experience by great teachers and peers. Finally, I could not have completed this project without continued love and support from my mother and stepfather, Mrs. Lisa Smith and Mr. Dennis Smith, my father, Mr. Kenny Hughes, and my brother, Dr. K. Stephen Hughes. iii TABLE OF CONTENTS Abstract Acknowledgements ..........................................................................................................iii Table of Contents .............................................................................................................iv Chapter 1. Introduction ..................................................................................................... 1 Chapter 2. Constitutive Rhetoric....................................................................................... 3 Ideology ................................................................................................................ 5 “Narrative Ideological Effects” ............................................................................. 9 Examples of Constitutive Rhetoric ......................................................................13 Chapter 3. Zombies and the Modern Zombie Apocalypse Theme ..................................16 Chapter 4. Description of Artifact and Method ...............................................................22 Chapter 5. Constituting the Monster ................................................................................32 Season 1: "Days Gone Bye" ................................................................................32 Collective, Zombie Apocalypse Survivor Subject ...................................32 Family bonds ................................................................................32 TWD's survivor group ..................................................................34 Transhistorical Subject.............................................................................38 Life before ....................................................................................38 Values from before ......................................................................41 Crumbling scenery .......................................................................44 Ideology and the Path of Inhumanity .......................................................45 Season 2: "What Lies Ahead" ..............................................................................48 Collective, Zombie Apocalypse Survivor Subject ...................................48 Family bonds ................................................................................49 TWD's survivor group ..................................................................49 Transhistorical Subject.............................................................................52 Life before ....................................................................................53 Values from before ......................................................................54 Crumbling scenery .......................................................................58 Ideology and the Path of Inhumanity .......................................................60 Season 3: "Fight the Dead. Fear the Living." ......................................................65 Collective, Zombie Apocalypse Survivor Subject ...................................65 iv Family bonds ................................................................................65 TWD's survivor group ..................................................................69 Transhistorical Subject.............................................................................73 Life before ....................................................................................73 Values from before ......................................................................74 Crumbling scenery .......................................................................77 Ideology and the Path of Inhumanity .......................................................79 Chapter 6. Discussion and Conclusion ............................................................................85 References ........................................................................................................................92 Appendix A. Main Characters ....................................................................................... 103 Appendix B. Supporting Characters Referenced ........................................................... 104 Appendix C. Season Descriptions.................................................................................. 105 v CHAPTER 1. INTRODUCTION If you visit any city in the southeast U.S. and ask around for opinions on the American Civil War, you will likely encounter a wide range of sentiment. Some people will tell you the war was about slavery, while others focus on taxes and the economy; some people will herald President Abraham Lincoln as savior to a marginalized population, while others will condemn him as war criminal for endorsing Major General William Tecumseh Sherman's campaign through Georgia. These discrepancies are almost definitely tied to rhetorical artifacts that hold varying ideas about this crucial period in the country's history. Such artifacts are used to look back at and describe the past, but they must also contribute to creating a constrained perspective. A rationalist would argue that if people could travel backwards in time, they may be able to see "what really happened.” Even if that were possible, travelers would likely encounter some of the same divergence in Northern and Southern war rhetoric but without the lens of a modern perspective. This disconnect can be considered a product of constitutive rhetoric, or discourse that constructs and constrains an implied audience as attached to an ideology by use of the narrative form. Describing this process, Charland (1987) wrote, “Audiences are constituted as subjects through a process of identification with a textual position” (p. 147). The concept has typically been utilized in analyses as in the previous paragraphs: accounts of a people who inhabited the past make up narratives, which imply identity and direction for their descendants. This perspective allows a critic to make a comparison between the historically-accepted descriptions of a people and the discourse of that period used to describe the group. Often, the result of this analysis is describing a constitutive rhetoric as a failure because of its inability to prompt an 1 associated action (Charland, 1987; Tate, 2005). Throughout history, groups