The Ironic Voice and Subjunctive Mood of Public Radio Programming
Open Access
Author:
Dzikowski, David
Graduate Program:
Speech Communication
Degree:
Doctor of Philosophy
Document Type:
Dissertation
Date of Defense:
June 03, 2009
Committee Members:
Thomas Walter Benson, Dissertation Advisor/Co-Advisor Thomas Walter Benson, Committee Chair/Co-Chair James Hogan, Committee Member Jeremy Engels, Committee Member Matthew Jackson, Committee Member
Keywords:
rhetoric public radio irony
Abstract:
Through a rhetorical analysis of irony in Car Talk, a critique of contrastive epistemics in All Things Considered, and an examination of the superintending ideology of Urban Agrarianism found in A Prairie Home Companion, the rhetoric of public radio programming emerges as ironic, constituted of coherent incompatibilities, and productive of critical thinking about art, science, and politics. Public radio programming is in a subjunctive mood, emphasizing the contingency and possibility of public judgment.
