Symbolic Leaders: Public Dramas and Public Men - Softcover

Klapp, Orrin E.

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0202308677 ISBN 13: 9780202308678

Publisher: Routledge, 2006

Synopsis

Radio, television and the press form the vast stage on which the public dramas of our time are played to a responsive audience of millions- the peoples of our nation and of the world. Almost anyone can steal the scene and become a public hero, a favorite villain or a lamented victim. How do these persons-the symbolic leaders-emerge? Who are they? How does the climate of public opinion affect the would-be leader? How does the public use its leaders?

This book discusses how symbolic leaders emerge, how unknown people become symbolic and it analyzes the kinds of encounters that are likely to make individuals either "heroes," "villains," or "fools." The book portrays the ups-and-downs of public images, as well as crises and role reversals, in which parties may swap roles without meaning to. The book concludes with a final chapter, which deals with the concept of public drama and its implications for change as well as its instability in modern society.

Symbolic Leaders is a probing and provocative analysis of the process of public drama and of the actors, who play the leading roles, discussed in terms of their significance for the structures of our rapidly changing society and illustrated by vivid case histories. Professor Klapp's lively style makes this work an eminently readable sociological study. The social scientist will find in it a challenging and original theory of social organization, which suggests strategic areas for further research. Public relations personnel will find it an invaluable practical handbook of clues for creating a public image. And the general reader will find Symbolic Leaders a fascinating and thought-provoking commentary on public life in our society.

About this title

About the Author:

Orrin E. Klapp (1915–1997) was emeritus professor of sociology at San Diego State University and the University of Western Ontario. 

Review:

“In this book, Klapp has made a significant contribution to the study of mass communications and modern societies through the analysis of such public dramas and their stars. . . . [T]he author’s messages is an important one and his theoretical position is addressed to a central question in social science. The capacity for change in men’s hearts is greatly underestimated by us cynical sociologists in our emphasis on structural commitments. Leaders of social movements have implicitly understood that stirring drama has immense power to affect action. Anyone who doubts that has but to mention the names of Christ, Gandhi, and Martin Luther King.”

—Joseph Gusfield, American Journal of Sociology

“Klapp distinguishes a symbolic leader from an organizational leader on the grounds that an organizational leader exercises authority within a social structure whereas a symbolic leader functions primarily through his meaning or image, and what he represents may be more important than what he commands. . . . [T]his book finds its place in sociology, examining events that are intrinsically interesting and publicly significant without pretending to exactitude of methodology or profundity of theoretical development.”

—Wm. Bruce Cameron, American Sociological Review

“In a lively style unmarred by academic jargon, Klapp reveals the world of the ‘symbolic leader’—one who functions primarily through his meaning or image, rather than organizational position. . . . Klapp traces how an unknown through an accident of circumstance, becomes a symbolic image for a wide audience, the image in turn taking on a life of its own, independent of its holder’s personality or material contribution. . . . This is a lively, entertaining, and sociologically important book.”

—Robert Endleman, Social Forces

About this edition

• Publisher: Routledge
• Publication date: 2006
• ISBN 10: 0202308677
• ISBN 13: 9780202308678
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 272