A New Beginning : A Textual Frame Analysis of the Political Campaign Film (Suny Series in Speech Communications)

Morreale, Joanne

ISBN 10: 0791406083 / ISBN 13: 9780791406083

Published by SUNY, Albany, 1991

About this Item

Pages bright & clean. Binding solid.

Seller Inventory # 7712

Bibliographic Details

• Title: A New Beginning : A Textual Frame Analysis of the Political Campaign Film (Suny Series in Speech Communications)
• Publisher: SUNY, Albany
• Publication Date: 1991
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0791406083
• ISBN 13: 9780791406083
• Binding: Hardcover
• Condition: About Fine
• Seller catalogs:
  • America. American History. Americana. USA

About this title

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 the Author

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