{"id":48305,"date":"2016-07-18T23:59:17","date_gmt":"2016-07-18T23:59:17","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.mixedracestudies.org\/?p=48305"},"modified":"2016-07-18T23:59:17","modified_gmt":"2016-07-18T23:59:17","slug":"barack-obama-and-the-rhetoric-of-hope","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mixedracestudies.org\/wp\/?p=48305","title":{"rendered":"Barack Obama and the Rhetoric of Hope"},"content":{"rendered":"

Barack Obama and the Rhetoric of Hope<\/strong><\/em><\/a><\/p>\n

McFarland<\/a>
\n2013
\n204 pages
\nsoftcover (6 x 9)
\nPrint ISBN: 978-0-7864-6793-8
\nEbook ISBN: 978-1-4766-0339-1<\/p>\n

Mark S. Ferrara<\/strong><\/a>, Assistant Professor of English
\nState University of New York, Oneonta<\/em><\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

The historical and literary antecedents of the President\u2019s campaign rhetoric can be traced to the utopian traditions of the Western world. The \u201crhetoric of hope\u201d is a form of political discourse characterized by a forward-looking vision of social progress brought about by collective effort and adherence to shared values (including discipline, temperance, a strong work ethic, self-reliance and service to the community).<\/p>\n

By combining his own personal story (as the biracial son of a white mother from Kansas<\/a> and a black father from Kenya<\/a>) with national mythologies like the American Dream<\/a>, Obama<\/a> creates a persona that embodies the moral values and cultural mythos of his implied audience. In doing so, he draws upon the Classical world<\/a>, Judeo-Christianity<\/a>, the European Enlightenment<\/a>, the U.S. Constitution<\/a> and Bill of Rights<\/a>, the presidencies of Jefferson<\/a>, Lincoln<\/a>, and FDR<\/a>, slave narratives, the Black church, the civil rights movement and even popular culture.<\/p>\n

Table of Contents<\/strong><\/p>\n