Black Frankenstein in D’Souza’s 2016: Obama’s America

IF 1.1 2区文学 Q3 COMMUNICATION Critical Studies in Media Communication Pub Date : 2023-01-01 DOI:10.1080/15295036.2022.2147972

Michael G. Lacy

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Abstract

ABSTRACT This essay offers a critical rhetorical analysis of neoconservative filmmaker Dinesh D'Souza's popular political documentary film, 2016: Obama's America. I argue that the documentary's narrative emulates conservative Black Frankenstein stories, whereby a monstrous black slave revolts against his white slave owner, justifying a violent white backlash to restore white supremacy [Young, E. (2008). Black Frankenstein: The making of an American metaphor. New York: New York University Press]. Obama's America re-presents overt and inferential antiblack racist caricatures that depict President Obama as a ruling mixed mulatto monstrosity determined to destroy America. I argue that D'Souza's documentary aimed to revive extreme white conservative resistance to Obama's presidency, specifically by equating Obama's 2012 re-election with America's looming economic collapse and escalating threats of Islamist terrorism. To deflect racist accusations, D'Souza adopts a journalistic persona and re-presents a colonial narrative, which suggests that racism and colonialism no longer exist, thereby sanitizing and idealizing contemporary America neocolonialism. Finally, I argue that the popular conservative depictions of Obama as a menacing mulatto monster destroying America were precursors of a white backlash against America's first black U.S. president and his multicultural coalition, culminating in Donald Trump's presidential victory in 2016.

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D 'Souza的《2016:奥巴马的美国》中的黑人弗兰肯斯坦

本文对新保守主义电影制作人迪内什·德索萨的热门政治纪录片《2016:奥巴马的美国》进行了批判性的修辞分析。我认为这部纪录片的叙事模仿了保守的黑人弗兰肯斯坦故事，即一个可怕的黑人奴隶反抗他的白人奴隶主，为白人暴力反弹辩护，以恢复白人至上主义[Young, E.(2008)]。黑人弗兰肯斯坦:美国隐喻的制作。纽约:纽约大学出版社。奥巴马的美国再现了公开的、推理的反黑人种族主义漫画，把奥巴马总统描绘成一个掌权的混血混血怪物，决心摧毁美国。我认为D'Souza的纪录片旨在重振极端白人保守派对奥巴马总统任期的抵制，特别是通过将奥巴马2012年的连任与美国迫在眉睫的经济崩溃和伊斯兰恐怖主义威胁升级等同起来。为了转移种族主义的指责，D'Souza采用了一种新闻人物的身份，重新呈现了一种殖民叙事，表明种族主义和殖民主义已经不复存在，从而对当代美国的新殖民主义进行了净化和理想化。最后，我认为，流行的保守派把奥巴马描绘成一个正在毁灭美国的具有威胁性的混血怪物，这是白人对美国第一位黑人总统及其多元文化联盟的强烈抵制的前兆，这种抵制在2016年唐纳德·特朗普(Donald Trump)赢得总统大选时达到高潮。

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Critical Studies in Media Communication COMMUNICATION-

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2.10

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0.00%

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期刊介绍： Critical Studies in Media Communication (CSMC) is a peer-reviewed publication of the National Communication Association. CSMC publishes original scholarship in mediated and mass communication from a cultural studies and/or critical perspective. It particularly welcomes submissions that enrich debates among various critical traditions, methodological and analytical approaches, and theoretical standpoints. CSMC takes an inclusive view of media and welcomes scholarship on topics such as • media audiences • representations • institutions • digital technologies • social media • gaming • professional practices and ethics • production studies • media history • political economy. CSMC publishes scholarship about media audiences, representations, institutions, technologies, and professional practices. It includes work in history, political economy, critical philosophy, race and feminist theorizing, rhetorical and media criticism, and literary theory. It takes an inclusive view of media, including newspapers, magazines and other forms of print, cable, radio, television, film, and new media technologies such as the Internet.