Three Tropes on Trump: A Textbook on Applied Marxism, Semiotics, and Psychoanalysis

Three Tropes on Trump: A Textbook on Applied Marxism, Semiotics, and Psychoanalysis uses the term "trope" in an unusual way―not as an expression in a figurative sense but as a form or method of analysis. This book uses Marxist theory, semiotic theory, and psychoanalytic theory in an attempt to understand what we might call the Trump phenomenon and the Trump style. Each chapter features a primer on its methodology, and it applies concepts from these theories to Trump’s candidacy and presidency, covering everything from his hair style, his use of spectacle, his use of insults, his comedic aspects, his personality, and his many psychological problems to help make sense of Trump and his relationship to his base and to the American public.

Arthur Asa Berger is Professor Emeritus of Broadcast and Electronic Communication Arts at San Francisco State University. He has published more than 100 articles and more than 70 books on popular culture, media, semiotics, and tourism. His books have been translated into nine languages.