TOWARD A GRAMMAR OF THE BLOGOSPHERE: RHETORIC AND ATTENTION IN THE NETWORKED IMAGINARY by Damien Smith Pfister B.A., University of Alabama, 2000 M.A., University of Pittsburgh, 2004 Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of The School of Arts and Sciences in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy University of Pittsburgh 2009i UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH School of Arts and Sciences This dissertation was presented by Damien Smith Pfister It was defended on January 16, 2009 and approved by Dr. Gregory Crowley, Coro Center for Civic Leadership Dr. John Lyne, Professor, Department of Communication Dr. Barbara Warnick, Professor, Department of Communication Dissertation Advisor: Gordon R. Mitchell, Associate Professor, Department of Communication ii Copyright © by Damien Smith Pfister 2009 iii TOWARD A GRAMMAR OF THE BLOGOSPHERE: RHETORIC AND ATTENTION IN THE NETWORKED IMAGINARY Damien Smith Pfister, PhD University of Pittsburgh, 2009 This dissertation explores the rhetorical imaginary of internetworked societies by examining three cases where actors in the blogosphere shaped public deliberation. In each case, I analyze a trope that emerged organically as bloggers theorized their own rhetorical interventions, and argue that these tropes signal shifts in how citizens of networked societies imagine their relations. The first case study, on the blogosphere’s reaction to Trent Lott’s 2002 toast to Strom Thurmond, examines how bloggers “flooded the zone” by relentlessly interpreting the event and finding evidence that eventually turned the tide of public opinion against Lott. Flooding the zone signifies the inventional possibilities of blogging through the production of copious public argument. The second case study, focusing on the 2003 blogging of the Salam Pax, an English- speaking Iraqi living in Iraq on the precipice of war, develops the idea of “ambient intimacy” which is produced through the affective economy of blogging. The ambient intimacy produced through blogging illustrates the blurring of traditional public/private distinctions in contemporary public culture. The third case study, on the group science blog RealClimate, identifies how blogs have become sites for translating scientific controversies into ordinary language through a process of “shallow quotation.” The diffusion of expertise enabled by the interactive format of blogging provides new avenues to close the gap between public and technical reasoning. 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'#)%"!AE!<#-"!-'*0&!-"%"<'(+,!<$('"$(#!#66%("0!'+!,(,"!)%+5C;*"%"0!<$('(<#%!0(-<+*$-"!/+/",'-E EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE:9! viii LIST OF FIGURES ;(5*$"!1E!#0@"$'(-"/",'!;+$!#0@#,'#5"!<+,-*%'#,'-EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE 1GD! ;(5*$"!AE!!4.+<B"&!'"#/7!$"<+,-'$*<'(+,E EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE 9A8! ;(5*$"!9E!-<$"",-.+'!+;!!"#$%$&'#("))%+5!6+-'EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE 9D1! ix ACKNOWLEDGMENTS A project of this duration has benefited from a powerful network of influences that I gratefully acknowledge. I have been lucky to be a member of the Communication Department at the University of Pittsburgh for the past seven years. The vibrant intellectual environment cultivated a space for students to experiment and take risks; at its best, the department represents a model for how to think about communication as a humanistic art. I am indebted to the numerous graduate school colleagues whose conversation and friendship over the years has so powerfully shaped my thinking. The financial support provided by an Andrew Mellon Predoctoral Fellowship from the University of Pittsburgh was instrumental in aiding completion of the project. I have also been fortunate enough to work closely with some stellar scholars and teachers in the course of my career. Pete Simonson, who served as a committee member early in my doctoral coursework, has been a real pal both intellectually and spiritually. Barbara Warnick was an excellent addition to my committee as I began working on my dissertation, and I have appreciated her insights all along the way. Greg Crowley’s perspective as a theorist and practitioner of public deliberation was a delightful addition as my project reached fruition. John Lyne was a committee member from the beginning, and his influence and encouragement have been sparkling throughout (despite the dubious influence of a certain Professor H.!) Gordon Mitchell, my advisor, deserves mountains of thanks for hours of frisbee-inspired theorizing, quesadilla-driven inspiration, passive voice-avoiding revisions, dacha-delivered mentoring, and continuing friendship. Gordon is the very model of the receptive, engaged, intense, and wise scholar that I aspire to. Though it might be odd, I’d also like to acknowledge a few places that were instrumental in pushing this project to fruition. The dissertation started to come together in various pubs in Edinburgh, Scotland, over the summer of 2008; a testament to the inspirational powers of good beer and company (and a probable explanation of whatever errors remain in the text). The proprietors of Arefa’s Espresso, Marie and Andrey Arefyeu, have built an oasis in Squirrel Hill that offers good coffee without corporate blandness or obnoxious patrons, for which I am all too thankful. I am indebted to my mother, Darlene Dorothy Smith, whose love and sacrifice along the way made it possible for me to even contemplate undertaking the intellectual path I now find myself on. For the countless hours she spent reading to me as a kid; the patience she showed when I exercised my argumentative skills; the spirit of curiosity and discovery she instilled in me; the gentle pushes and occasional prods; the encouragement and support; for all this and much more, I thank her. Finally, I want to thank Carly S. Woods, my favorite interlocutor, first editor, moral supporter, and, most importantly, partner. You, as they say, rock my socks. x CHAPTER 1—INTRODUCTION 1.1 Three (Rhetorical) Challenges for Public Deliberation A crowd gathers for a public debate on physician-assisted suicide. The debaters, at the front of the chamber, have diligently prepared their remarks and await the conclusion of the moderator’s introduction to wade into the finer points of the controversy. Finally, they get an opportunity to share their insights. Each debater, in turn, ranges over the basic points, skating around issues of consent, pain-ridden terminal illness,