America According to Colbert Satire as Public Pedagogy

by McClennen, Sophia A.

• ISBN13: 9780230104662
• ISBN10: 0230104665
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2011-10-15
• Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan

Summary

Is the comedy of Stephen Colbert simply fun or is it powerful political satire? Does it entertain viewers or does it empower them? Or does it teach us that in today's media-saturated world those binaries make no sense? America According to Colbert: Satire as Public Pedagogyclaims that Colbert's satire fosters critical thinking about social issues, encourages active citizenship, and entertains the viewerall at the same time. The first book to cover the various themes and features of The Colbert Report, America According to Colbertoffers readers insight into the powerful ways that Colbert's comedy challenges the cult of ignorance that has threatened meaningful public debate and social dialogue since 9/11.

Author Biography

Sophia A. McClennen is a professor of Comparative Literature, Spanish, and Women's Studies at the Pennsylvania State University, University Park, where she directs the Center for Global Studies and the graduate program in Comparative Literature.

Table of Contents

"America According to Colbert demonstrates that Colbert’s work is also a form of public pedagogy, teaching his audiences to be distrustful of power and fools, and to view all politicians, pundits, and politics itself with mistrust. McClennen’s well-written and documented study brilliantly illuminates the Colbert phenomenon and its importance for contemporary politics, journalism, and popular culture today." - Douglas Kellner, Professor, UCLA; author of Guys and Guns Amok and Media Spectacle and the Crisis of Democracy

"America According to Colbert is beautifully readable and delightfully smart; rich in examples and conceptual frame. McClennen gives us a master class in the critical pedagogy of Colbert." - Geoffrey Baym, Associate Professor, Department of Media Studies, University of North Carolina Greensboro

"An always insightful and often delightful reading of the most sustained and successful exercise in political satire in modern American life. Stephen Colbert would no doubt agree - well, about all but the ‘satire’ part. Let the eagle soar!" - Geoffrey Nunberg, Adjunct Full Professor, School of Information, University of California at Berkeley