Richard M. Merelman - Language, Symbolism, and Politics
Here you can read online Richard M. Merelman - Language, Symbolism, and Politics full text of the book (entire story) in english for free. Download pdf and epub, get meaning, cover and reviews about this ebook. City: New York, year: 1992, publisher: Routledge, genre: Science. Description of the work, (preface) as well as reviews are available. Best literature library LitArk.com created for fans of good reading and offers a wide selection of genres:
Romance novel
Science fiction
Adventure
Detective
Science
History
Home and family
Prose
Art
Politics
Computer
Non-fiction
Religion
Business
Children
Humor
Choose a favorite category and find really read worthwhile books. Enjoy immersion in the world of imagination, feel the emotions of the characters or learn something new for yourself, make an fascinating discovery.
- Book:Language, Symbolism, and Politics
- Author:
- Publisher:Routledge
- Genre:
- Year:1992
- City:New York
- Rating:4 / 5
- Favourites:Add to favourites
- Your mark:
Language, Symbolism, and Politics: summary, description and annotation
We offer to read an annotation, description, summary or preface (depends on what the author of the book "Language, Symbolism, and Politics" wrote himself). If you haven't found the necessary information about the book — write in the comments, we will try to find it.
From the telerhetoric of 30-second sound bites that deliver campaign slogans to the legal rhetoric that shapes our notions of social roles and values, or the official rhetoric of bureaucracies that legitimizes social problems, our perceptions of political reality are determined by the language and symbolism of the institutions of our culture. In the words of Murray Edelman, we view politics as a series of pictures in the mind, placed there by television news, newspapers, magazines, and discussions. In Language, Symbolism, and Politics, leading political scientists, lawyers, and philosophers explore some of the multiple roles that symbolism and language play in political life. Edelmans ideas inspire discussions of political organization, political symbolism, elections, public policy, political culture, and political philosophy. But these essays also extend Edelmans work to encompass contemporary efforts in structuralism, deconstruction, textual analysis, post-structuralism, critical theory, and neo-Marxism. That so many important political topics can be tied together with the help of Edelmans analysis of language and symbolism is not only a tribute to his work but also ample testimony to the central place of language and symbolism in politics.
Richard M. Merelman: author's other books
Who wrote Language, Symbolism, and Politics? Find out the surname, the name of the author of the book and a list of all author's works by series.
Richard M. Merelman
Adam Chmielewski
Michele Lockhart
William Safran
Valentina Arena
Language, Symbolism, and Politics — read online for free the complete book (whole text) full work
Below is the text of the book, divided by pages. System saving the place of the last page read, allows you to conveniently read the book "Language, Symbolism, and Politics" online for free, without having to search again every time where you left off. Put a bookmark, and you can go to the page where you finished reading at any time.
Light
Font size:
↓
↑
Reset
Interval:
↓
↑
Bookmark:
Make
Language,Symbolism, and Politics
Language, Symbolism, and Politics
Edited by
Richard M. Merelman
Richard M. Merelman
First published 1992 by Westview Press, Inc.
Published 2018 by Routledge
52 Vanderbilt Avenue, New York, NY 10017
2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN
52 Vanderbilt Avenue, New York, NY 10017
2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business
Copyright 1992 Taylor & Francis
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers.
Notice:
Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and explanation without intent to infringe.
Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and explanation without intent to infringe.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Merelman, Richard M., 1938
Language, symbolism, and politics / Richard M. Merelman.
p. cm.
ISBN 0-8133-8581-4
1. Political psychology. 2. Symbolism in politics. 3. CommunicationPolitical aspects. 4. RhetoricPolitical aspects. I. Title.
JA74.5.M47 1992
320'.01'9dc20
Merelman, Richard M., 1938
Language, symbolism, and politics / Richard M. Merelman.
p. cm.
ISBN 0-8133-8581-4
1. Political psychology. 2. Symbolism in politics. 3. CommunicationPolitical aspects. 4. RhetoricPolitical aspects. I. Title.
JA74.5.M47 1992
320'.01'9dc20
92-27242
CIP
CIP
ISBN 13: 978-0-367-01095-9 (hbk)
Contents
, Richard M. Merelman
PART ONE
Political Interests and Political Symbolism
Political Interests and Political Symbolism
, Robert R. Alford
, Benjamin Ginsberg
, David J. Olson
PART TWO
Elections and Symbolism
Elections and Symbolism
, Marjorie Randon Hershey
, W. Lance Bennett
PART THREE
Policy Implementation, Elite Control, and Political Symbolism
Policy Implementation, Elite Control, and Political Symbolism
, Kristin Bumiller
, Martha Albertson Fineman
, Michael Lipsky
PART FOUR
Culture and Political Domination
Culture and Political Domination
, James Scott
, Richard M. Merelman
PART FIVE
Symbolic Representation and Power
Symbolic Representation and Power
, Michael J. Shapiro
, Anne Norton
, Murray Edelman
Guide
The papers in this volume were originally presented to a Conference on Language, Symbolism, and Politics held at the University of Wisconsin, March 30-31,1990, in honor of Professor Murray Edelman. My thanks go to the Anonymous Fund of the University of Wisconsin for supporting the conference. I should also like to express my gratitude to Robert E. Lane, Michael Rogin, John Fiske, Joel Rogers, Diane Rubenstein, Ann Stoler, Timothy Cook, Lee Hansen, and David Trubek for their significant contributions at the conference.
Thanks also go to the Brittingham Fund of the University of Wisconsin for underwriting costs associated with the publication of this volume. Kristin Novotny of the University of Wisconsin labored heroically in the final editing of this collection. Kristin deserves much praise for her dedication, diligence, and discernment. Thanks also to Diane Morauske for efficient and careful preparation of the final copy and to Jennifer Knerr of Westview for her receptivity to the project. The unique combination of scholarship and personal example which is Murray Edelman's gift to his admirers motivated this volume; the volume merely returns the favor in a way which allows everyone interested in politics, language, and symbolism to partake generously.
Richard M. Merelman
Madison, Wisconsin
Madison, Wisconsin
Richard M. Merelman
The essays in this collection analyze some of the multiple roles of symbolism and language in political life. This introduction outlines a few major themes in these essays, chiefly by linking the collection as a whole to the work of Murray Edelman, the person for whom these essays, in conference form, were prepared. First, I will set forth major themes in Edelman's work that emerge in the volume. I will then briefly describe each essay, linking it to Edelman's insights. I will conclude by suggesting some unique contributions to the analysis of political language and symbolism which this volume offers.
Edelman on Symbolism, Language, and Politics
In his seminal The Symbolic Uses of Politics (1964) Edelman argued that political cognition is not a representation of reality, but a variable and selective construction of non-referential symbols. Edelman claimed that, "For most men most of the time politics is a series of pictures in the mind, placed there by television news, newspapers, magazines and discussions" (p. 5). Moreover, because of the absence of personal contact with political events, people see politics as "... a passing parade of abstract symbols" (p. 5). The gap between experience and perception causes the relationship between political symbolism and language, on the one hand, and political events, on the other, always to be problematic.
But the absence of personal contact with political events is not the only thing that destroys the referential qualities of political language and symbols. In fact, even political actors themselves are divorced from a stable, underlying, universally comprehensible political reality. Edelman argues that political events are so complex and ambiguous that they remain opaque even to many of those intimately involved with them. Often, too, political actors lack stable values or ideologies which would afford them a clear interpretation of events. In yet other cases political actors are overly committed to particular causes or interests, so much so that they engage in selective perception. For these reasons, political actors can arrive at no spontaneous consensus about the meaning of any particular political event. Whatever consensus does emerge, therefore, is artificially created, misleading, and inaccurate.
It is evident that this approach to political meaning is at variance with most rational choice and empirical social science theories. These theories assume that revealed or stated purposes, norms, preferences, and motives in politics are stable, knowable precursors to the choices political actors make. By contrast, Edelman's perspective suggests that motives, goals, purposes, and values are an often evanescent selection from an equally plausible range of unchosen alternatives. It follows that social science should attempt to understand the processes which shape perceptions, rather than simply take perceptions as a given. Indeed, Edelman contends that social scientists who concentrate on normative or empirical analyses in their conventional forms serve to perpetuate the political status quo, rather than to reveal "reality," much less liberate people from the tyranny of the "taken for granted."
Thus, for Edelman political language and symbolism is neither detached from, nor neutral about, political events. Instead, both language and symbolism help to constitute political reality. Disputing Marxist frameworks, which artificially separate material "base" from ideological "superstructure," and early logical positivist frameworks, which dismiss political language as trivial "mindstuff," Edelman views political ideologies, language and symbolism as performatives, that is, political actions in themselves. Thus, only a social science attuned to the analysis of language and symbolism a social science informed by linguistics, semiotics, literary criticism, narrative theory, and social psychologycan begin to grasp political reality.
If, as Edelman argues, the language of politics is inherently ambiguous and misleading, then theories of politics which do not appreciate or capture this fact become one more aspect, not a "neutral description," of the political situation itself. Thus, for example, an untenable Marxist distinction between economic base and ideological superstructure reifies politics and deludes observers. Likewise, an untenable positivist distinction between facts and values lures observers into a fruitless search for an objective, timeless, universal "science of politics." Worse yet, these false distinctions deceive not only social scientists but also the general public, who read and believe these "experts."
Light
Font size:
↓
↑
Reset
Interval:
↓
↑
Bookmark:
Make
Similar books «Language, Symbolism, and Politics»
Look at similar books to Language, Symbolism, and Politics. We have selected literature similar in name and meaning in the hope of providing readers with more options to find new, interesting, not yet read works.
Adam Chmielewski
Michele Lockhart
William Safran
Valentina Arena
Reviews about «Language, Symbolism, and Politics»
Discussion, reviews of the book Language, Symbolism, and Politics and just readers' own opinions. Leave your comments, write what you think about the work, its meaning or the main characters. Specify what exactly you liked and what you didn't like, and why you think so.