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Remediating Democracy: Youtube and the Vernacular Rhetorics of Web 2.0

Dietel-McLaughlin, Erin F.

Abstract Details

2010, Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.), Bowling Green State University, English/Rhetoric and Writing.
This dissertation examines the extent to which composing practices and rhetorical strategies common to “Web 2.0” arenas may reinvigorate democracy. The project examines several digital composing practices as examples of what Gerard Hauser (1999) and others have dubbed “vernacular rhetoric,” or common modes of communication that may resist or challenge more institutionalized forms of discourse. Using a cultural studies approach, this dissertation focuses on the popular video-sharing site, YouTube, and attempts to theorize several vernacular composing practices. First, this dissertation discusses the rhetorical trope of irreverence, with particular attention to the ways in which irreverent strategies such as new media parody transcend more traditional modes of public discourse. Second, this dissertation discusses three approaches to video remix (collection, Detournement, and mashing) as political strategies facilitated by Web 2.0 technologies, with particular attention to the ways in which these strategies challenge the construct of authorship and the power relationships inherent in that construct. This dissertation then considers the extent to which sites like YouTube remediate traditional rhetorical modes by focusing on the genre of epideictic rhetoric and the ways in which sites like YouTube encourage epideictic practice. Finally, in light of what these discussions reveal in terms of rhetorical practice and democracy in Web 2.0 arenas, this dissertation offers a concluding discussion of what our “Web 2.0 world” might mean for composition studies in terms of theory, practice, and the teaching of writing.
Kristine Blair, Ph.D. (Committee Chair)
Lee Nickoson-Massye, Ph.D. (Committee Member)
Michael Butterworth, Ph.D. (Committee Member)
Louisa Ha, Ph.D. (Committee Member)
177 p.

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Dietel-McLaughlin, E. F. (2010). Remediating Democracy: Youtube and the Vernacular Rhetorics of Web 2.0 [Doctoral dissertation, Bowling Green State University]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=bgsu1275323561

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Dietel-McLaughlin, Erin. Remediating Democracy: Youtube and the Vernacular Rhetorics of Web 2.0. 2010. Bowling Green State University, Doctoral dissertation. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=bgsu1275323561.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Dietel-McLaughlin, Erin. "Remediating Democracy: Youtube and the Vernacular Rhetorics of Web 2.0." Doctoral dissertation, Bowling Green State University, 2010. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=bgsu1275323561

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)