Hip, trendy and bussin’ rhetorical criticism

When analyzing a book or film for a college course or research project, classics such as “Dante’s Inferno,” “Jane Eyre” and “Frankenstein” often come to mind. However, a new edition of a book by Deanna Sellnow, professor and chair of the Department of Communication, provides a framework for analyzing music, books and movies from popular culture to help younger generations better connect with rhetorical criticism.

“The Rhetorical Power of Popular Culture: Considering Mediated Texts (Fourth Edition),” published by SAGE Publications, Inc., is a step-by-step guide for students to conduct rhetorical criticism analyses using a variety of theories. The book includes sample analyses of television shows and movies such as “Modern Family,” “Stranger Things, “The Hunger Games” and “The Help” – and even music by Taylor Swift and advertisements from Budweiser.

The rhetorical analysis process focuses on describing the rhetorical situation, interpreting the work based on a chosen rhetorical framework and evaluating its worth and potential implications on target populations.

Sellnow began writing the book after teaching a graduate seminar in popular culture rhetoric for a decade and realizing there were not enough publications about this topic.

“There was a lack of helpful resources to use for the class, and I was frustrated at the limits of the existing research that focused on rhetorical analyses of music as communication and persuasion,” said Sellnow.

Her background includes a Ph.D. in education with cognates in music and communication from the University of North Dakota, a master’s degree in music from Wayne State University, as well as a bachelor’s degree in music education and speech communication from North Dakota State University. One of her research areas focuses on rhetorical studies of popular culture – ranging from music to advertisements to television programs and feature films – and she has developed her own rhetorical theory for examining music as communication-based on Susanne Langer’s theory of aesthetic symbolism.

Sellnow’s book even has an entire chapter devoted to the illusion of life rhetorical perspective for examining the dynamic interaction between music and lyrics to communicate and persuade.

Further research and publications on this topic are in progress, as she is working with a colleague on an analysis of Noah Kahan’s album “Stick Season – We’ll All Be Here Forever” as a vehicle for changing the stigmatizing conversation about mental health through music.

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The Department of Communication is part of the University’s College of Behavioral, Social and Health Sciences (CBSHS). Established in July 2016, CBSHS is a 21st-century, land-grant college that combines work in seven disciplines – communication; nursing; parks, recreation and tourism management; political science; psychology; public health sciences; sociology, anthropology and criminal justice – to further its mission of “building people and communities” in South Carolina and beyond.