This paper offers a semiotic analysis of Abraham Lincoln’s role in American cultural memory by addressing the interaction in George Saunders’ Lincoln in the Bardo (2017) between Lincoln’s two roles... Show moreThis paper offers a semiotic analysis of Abraham Lincoln’s role in American cultural memory by addressing the interaction in George Saunders’ Lincoln in the Bardo (2017) between Lincoln’s two roles as a larger than life persona and a relatable ‘common’ man. By using the literary tropes of synecdoche and metonym, and Ernst Kantorowicz’s notion of the King’s two bodies (‘body natural’ and ‘body politic’), this paper examines Lincoln’s roles in the novel and argues that his portrayal as a synecdochic representation of the nation (his body natural) is crucial to the formation of his metonymic representation (his body politic). Discussing examples that range from the connection between the White House and the nation during the Civil War, to Lincoln’s remarkable appearance and his role in the abolition of slavery, we reach the conclusion that Lincoln’s popularity in American cultural memory is owing to the interweaving of these two semiotic relations. Show less
Margaret Atwood’s most famous dystopian novel, The Handmaid’s Tale (1985), is one of those stories whose message seems to carry across the ages. The hyperreal patriarchy-as-terror-regime that The H...Show moreMargaret Atwood’s most famous dystopian novel, The Handmaid’s Tale (1985), is one of those stories whose message seems to carry across the ages. The hyperreal patriarchy-as-terror-regime that The Handmaid’s Tale portrays has become a well-known shorthand in feminist protest culture. Its presence became even more prominent in response to Donald Trump’s 2016 election, and its visibility as a protest symbol there and at other events aimed at curbing women’s rights was strengthened by the visual imagery of the novel’s most recent adaptation. The Handmaid’s Tale and Atwood’s 2019 addition to its storyworld, The Testaments, with adaptations across media, have effectively given shape to what has become a media franchise. As its uses in the context of feminist politics and populism show, this franchise refers not only to commercial concerns; it also references a form of political enfranchisement in that it offers tools and language for calling out patriarchy. We argue that the conglomerate of Gilead media texts engenders a fraught franchise in both commercial and politically emancipatory senses. While only reluctantly ‘offering itself up’ for commercial exploitation, the franchise makes itself freely and prominently available to feminist protest culture. Show less
Successfully turning his Twitter presence into political power in a range ofways, Donald Trump is among thefirst major political leaders to benefit fromfundamental changes in the media ecosystem.... Show moreSuccessfully turning his Twitter presence into political power in a range ofways, Donald Trump is among thefirst major political leaders to benefit fromfundamental changes in the media ecosystem. This article discernstwo dynamics at play in reshaping the media landscape: first, the fact thatsocial media can quickly mobilise effective political constituencies. Second,the rhetorical mode Trump employs in effecting this shift from communitiesto constituencies reconfigures politics to assume the logic of cartoons.Trump presents and is represented as a character to whom the laws ofcartoon physics apply, not in a traditional manner, as an object of politicalcartoons, but as a powerful agent, driving a logic of politics that engagesmeme-makers in novel ways. Show less
