Date
10-2018
Department
School of Communication and Digital Content
Degree
Master of Arts in Communication (MA)
Chair
Cecil V Kramer
Keywords
Donald Trump, Fantasy Theme, Ku Klux Klan, Symbolic Convergence
Disciplines
Rhetoric | Rhetoric and Composition
Recommended Citation
Spicer, Taylor Ashton, "Sinister Subshade: The Revival of the Ku Klux Klan in Modern America" (2018). Masters Theses. 537.
https://digitalcommons.liberty.edu/masters/537
Abstract
Through the implementation of qualitative analysis this study purposes to discover if there exists possible correlation between President Trump’s assent to power and the increasing legitimacy of the Ku Klux Klan. Using Ernest Bormann’s (1972) Fantasy Theme Criticism, the Knights Party official website and the Donald J. Trump official website are systematically analyzed for dramatis personae (character), setting and action. The rhetorical visions compiled from each analysis are compared employing Ernest Bormann’s (1980) Symbolic Convergence Theory. Resulting analysis suggests little to no correlation between the two movements. The two websites provide very different rhetorical visions with no overlap. The work presented here could have profound implications for future studies of social movements and may one day help to solve the problem of surviving hate groups in America.
