Date of Graduation
Spring 2023
Degree
Master of Arts in Communication
Department
Communication
Committee Chair
Eric Morris
Abstract
The effects of right wing politically charged violence are more visible now than at any other point in recent American history. The Internet, and social media more specifically, has become a crucial nexus point in the dissemination of decentralized Alt-Right propaganda. The visual nature of social media has increased the importance of images a means of communication. Through this thesis, I analyze artifacts coming out of these spaces representing a conversation between creators and audiences, and how they work dialogically to introduce and reify symbols of white masculine supremacy within this subgroup. Through this process, I find multiple recurring patterns and motifs which transmit these ideas through the use of drawn images, and explain why the use of the image expands the rhetorical possibilities for this communicative form.
Keywords
political cartoons, alt-right, race, masculinity, Ben Garrison, white supremacy, metaphor, algorithm, enthymeme
Subject Categories
Communication Technology and New Media | Gender, Race, Sexuality, and Ethnicity in Communication | Graphic Communications | Mass Communication | Rhetoric | Social Influence and Political Communication | Social Media | Speech and Rhetorical Studies
Copyright
© Andrew R.J. Hart
Recommended Citation
Hart, Andrew R.J., "Right Turn at Reality: A Rhetorical Analysis of Right Wing Negotiations on Race and Masculinity in Online Spaces" (2023). MSU Graduate Theses. 3877.
https://bearworks.missouristate.edu/theses/3877
Open Access
Included in
Communication Technology and New Media Commons, Gender, Race, Sexuality, and Ethnicity in Communication Commons, Graphic Communications Commons, Mass Communication Commons, Rhetoric Commons, Social Influence and Political Communication Commons, Social Media Commons, Speech and Rhetorical Studies Commons
