A New Beginning: A Textual Frame Analysis of the Political Campaign Film (Communication Studies) - Softcover

Morreale, Joanne

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0791406091 ISBN 13: 9780791406090

Publisher: State University of New York Press, 1991

Synopsis

This book is a postmodern analysis of Ronald Reagan's 1984 film, A New Beginning, which marked the coming-of-age of the televisual political campaign film. The film was a landmark in the art of political filmmaking. Its thesis proclaimed a resurgence of American pride, patriotism, and prosperity under the leadership of Ronald Reagan. A New Beginning was unprecedented for a number of reasons: it replaced the traditional nominating speech for the candidate at the Republican National Convention; its form was a hybrid documentary and advertisement; it illustrated the use of televisual rebirth rhetoric to gain public support for a political ideology; and, most importantly, the masterful project documented a shift from verbal to visual rhetoric in American presidential campaigning.

The author examines the film as a cultural text and as an effective political tool. Framing, ideology, myth, and visual cliché are analytic tools used to deconstruct the film; the method combines rhetorical theory with communication theory and semiotically-based theories of film and television. Morreale gives insight into the increasingly prevalent use of television to create a political reality.

About this title

About the Author

Joanne Morreale is Assistant Professor of Speech Communication at Northeastern University.

Edition details

• Publisher: State University of New York Press
• Publication date: 1991
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0791406091
• ISBN 13: 9780791406090
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 154