Speaking from the Heart: Mediation and Sincerity in U.S. Political Speech David Supp-Montgomerie A dissertation submitted to the faculty at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the Department of Communication Studies in the College of Arts and Sciences. Chapel Hill 2013 Approved by: Christian Lundberg V. William Balthrop Carole Blair Lawrence Grossberg William Keith © 2013 David Supp-Montgomerie ALL RIGHTS RESERVED ii ABSTRACT David Supp-Montgomerie: Speaking from the Heart: Mediation and Sincerity in U.S. Political Speech (Under the direction of Christian Lundberg) This dissertation is a critique of the idea that the artifice of public speech is a problem to be solved. This idea is shown to entail the privilege attributed to purportedly direct or unmediated speech in U.S. public culture. I propose that we attend to the ēthos producing effects of rhetorical concealment by asserting that all public speech is constituted through rhetorical artifice. Wherever an alternative to rhetoric is offered, one finds a rhetoric of non-rhetoric at work. A primary strategy in such rhetoric is the performance of sincerity. In this dissertation, I analyze the function of sincerity in contexts of public deliberation. I seek to show how claims to sincerity are strategic, demonstrate how claims that a speaker employs artifice have been employed to imply a lack of sincerity, and disabuse communication, rhetoric, and deliberative theory of the notion that sincere expression occurs without technology. In Chapter Two I begin with the original problem of artifice for rhetoric in classical Athens in the writings of Plato and Isocrates. Plato values immediate modes of speech because mediation, such as writing, is for him a fundamentally artificial construction of appearance. In contrast, Isocrates placed writing at the center of good thinking and defended the use of logography for the betterment of civil society. He presented a case for what I will call rhetorical literacy: the learned skill of creating and interpreting morally prudent persuasive discourse. iii In Chapters Three and Four, I turn to two contemporary cases beginning with a context considered to be rife with artifice: political campaigns. In Chapter Three, I discuss how the problem of artifice prompts both a crisis of ēthos for political speakers and an opportunity for opponents to strategically point out the presence of artifice. Criticism of Governor Mitt Romney and President Barack Obama often attended to the artifice of their speech, while President George W. Bush’s speeches and the myth of unmediated speech indicate the tendency for some technologies to more successfully allow a speaker to conceal her or his rhetorical craft. Chapter Four examines how the appearance of unmediated communication in facilitated dialogue and deliberation requires active concealment and denial of technique. While Open Space Technology might appear to be less staged than National Issues Forums and, therefore, more natural, they both rely on the concealment of the artifice of their technique. iv To Jenna. Your heart is true, you’re a pal and a confidant. Thank you for being a friend. v ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I decided to pursue my doctorate in UNC’s Department of Communication Studies because I had a passion for rhetoric and cultural studies. While this passion was my wind, I had no rudder. My colleagues at Carolina were brilliant, passionate, and above all, curious. We wandered the intellectual high seas together and I am forever grateful for that journey. I am deeply indebted to my committee, whom I assembled because I knew they would pull no punches and could help discipline my work on political speech and challenge my faith in democracy’s radical—if precarious—potential. Without this particular group this particular project would not have been completed. First, I thank Bill Balthrop. His teaching will serve as a benchmark for me because he always had the nicest way of telling me when I was not making any sense. I also thank Larry Grossberg. His enthusiasm for ideas and relentless spirit has been an important inspiration as I come to think of myself as a scholar. Additionally, I must thank Bill Keith. His willingness to read my draft writing and provide detailed comments, and his patience for Skype, were unending. Carole Blair has served as my tireless mentor. She taught me about the profession I was entering and what my ideas could accomplish— with a healthy dose of tenacity. I am deeply proud to know Carole and always look forward to our next back deck conversation. Finally, I thank Chris Lundberg, my adviser, for his earnestness and rigor. Inside and outside of the classroom, Chris modeled the vi highest quality of charitable reading and careful thinking. His love of the big ideas was infectious and I learned a great deal about how to think from him. I must also thank several other people who have helped me complete this project. First, I thank my family for their support. In particular, my sister Jessica Montgomerie and Mother-in-Law Katrin Tiitsman were willing to read every word of this project and gently ask if a particular term would be meaningful to my audience. Both Jessica and Katrin were more helpful than they realize in helping me articulate my thoughts. In addition, I wish to thank Janel Beckham, Carey Hardin, Julia O’Grady, Stace Treat, and Alia Wegner for reading portions of this project. Finally, I thank my partner, Jenna Supp- Montgomerie. Whoever thought forging a relationship in the dissertation fires could be so enjoyable? Your emotional support and intellectual guidance vie for top honors; I owe you everything everyday. vii Table of Contents CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION ....................................................................................... 1 Dissertation Overview .......................................................................................... 13 Sincerity and the Figure of the Sincere Speaker ................................................... 14 Technology ........................................................................................................... 18 Speech/Writing/Presence ...................................................................................... 21 Rhetoric, Deliberation, and Democracy ................................................................ 23 Chapters ................................................................................................................ 25 CHAPTER 2: LOGOGRAPHY IN ATHENS: PLATO VS. ISOCRATES ..................... 29 Democratic Speech in Athens ............................................................................... 35 Writing and Logography ....................................................................................... 38 Plato and Immediacy ............................................................................................. 42 Plato, Parrhesia, and Non-Rhetoric ....................................................................... 49 Isocrates and Rhetoric ........................................................................................... 52 Isocrates’ Defense of Rhetorical Literacy ............................................................. 57 Conclusion ............................................................................................................ 63 CHAPTER 3: THE TELEPROMPTER AND THE BULLHORN .................................. 67 Technological Styles and Techniques of Concealment ........................................ 72 Crisis of Ēthos ....................................................................................................... 77 Ordinary Ethos ...................................................................................................... 81 Staging the Unscripted .......................................................................................... 84 The Script and High-Tech Speech ........................................................................ 89 viii Technological Form .............................................................................................. 92 Cultural Significance ............................................................................................ 96 Low-Tech Style: The Bullhorn and the Myth of Unmediated Speech ............... 102 Bush’s Low Style ................................................................................................ 106 Low-Tech Form and Significance ...................................................................... 112 Conclusions ......................................................................................................... 118 CHAPTER 4: DIALOGUE, DELIBERATION, AND THE DENIAL OF TECHNIQUE ......................................................................................................................................... 124 Dialogue, Deliberation, and Debate for Democracy ........................................... 134 The Pursuit of Natural Deliberation in Facilitated Dialogue .............................. 137 Facilitation .......................................................................................................... 144 Open Space Technology ..................................................................................... 145 A Spontaneous Breath ......................................................................................... 149 Immediate Presence ...........................................................................................