Constructing Clinton : Hyperreality and Presidential Image-Making in Postmodern Politics

by Parry-Giles, Shawn J.; Parry-Giles, Trevor

• ISBN13: 9780820456959
• ISBN10: 0820456950
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2002-04-01
• Publisher: Peter Lang Pub Inc

Summary

Bill Clinton is the embodiment and epitome of American politics in the postmodern, mediated age. Clinton's abel marshaling of images, which allowed him to retain popularity and position when faced with compelling obstacles, marks him as the preeminent figure in a fluid and fluctuating era of image-politics. Constructing Clinton: Hyper-reality & Presidential Image-Making in Postmodern Politics pays particular attention to the colelction fo desparate, sometimes connected, often random images that crate a site of politcal meaning we know as "Bill Clinton, former president of the United States." Through analyses of unique image texts--including The Man from Hope, The War Room, Primary Colors, MTV's Biorhythms, and PBS' The American President--Constructiing Clinton focuses on teh image of Bill Clinton as it was defined by and trapped in teh hyperreality so characteristic of contemporary presidential politics.

Author Biography

Shawn J. Parry-Giles is Assistant Professor of Communication, Affiliate Assistant Professor of Women's Studies, and Director of the Center for Political Communication and Civic Leadership at the University of Maryland. Trevor Parry-Giles is Assistant Professor of Communication and Affiliate Faculty Member with the Center for Political Communication and Civic Leadership at the University of Maryland

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments	ix
Introduction Hyperreal Politics, Bill Clinton, and U.S. Political Culture in the 1990s	1	(23)
The Man from Hope: Hyperreal Intimacy and the Invention of Bill Clinton	24	(28)
Meta-Imaging, The War Room, and the Hyperreal Campaign	52	(31)
Political Nostalgia, Hyperreal History, and the 1996 Presidential Campaign	83	(35)
Primary Colors and the Hyperreal Authentication of Bill Clinton	118	(39)
Bill Clinton's Hyperreal Legacy	157	(30)
Afterword Postmodern Presidentiality and the Future of Image Politics	187	(20)
Bibliography	207	(30)
Index	237