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Description:
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The War on Terror Narrative analyzes three types of data--presidential
speeches, U.S. media discourse, and focus group interviews--to provide a
longitudinal and holistic study of the formation, circulation, and
contestation of the Bush administration's narrative about the "war on
terror." The narrative sustains, in Foucault's terms, a "regime of truth"
by placing boundaries around what can meaningfully be said and understood
about the subject. Adam Hodges illustrates that even as social actors
resist the narrative and the policy it entails, they appropriate its
language to be heard and understood. While this often works to strengthen
the narrative, discourse is inevitably reshaped as it enters into new
contexts. This recontextualization allows for the introduction of new
meanings, and therein lies the potential for resistance and social
transformation. Hodges argues that applying ideas on intertextuality to the
analysis of political discourse is central to understanding the way
micro-level discursive action contributes to macro-level cultural
narratives like the Bush "War on Terror" narrative.
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