Description
Book SynopsisPublic expression in the United States has become increasingly coarse. Whether it’s stupid, rude, base, or anti-intellectual talk, it surrounds us. Popular television, film, music, art, and even some elements of religion have become as coarse, we argue, as our often-disparaged political dialogue. This book’s contention is that the U.S. semantic environment is governed by tactics, not tact. We craft messages that work—that perform their desired function. We are instrumental, strategic communicators. As such, entertainment and journalism that draw an audience, for instance, are “good.” This follows the logic that the marketplace, an aggregate of hedonically motivated individuals, decides what’s good. Market logic, when unencumbered by what some characterize as quaint human sentimentalities, liberates us to cynically communicate whatever and however we want. Whatever improves ratings, web traffic, ticket sales, concession sales, repeat purchases, and earnings is good. Embracing this communicative paradigm more fully necessitates the culture’s abandonment of collective notions of both taste and veracity, thus weakening the forces that keep individual desires in check. Our present communication environment is one that invites the hypertrophic expression of the ego, enabling elites to erode public communication standards and repeal laws and regulations resulting in immeasurable individual fortunes. Meanwhile, perpetual plutocratic rule is made even more certain by the cacophonous public noise the rest of us are busy making, leaving us incapable, disinterested, and unwilling to listen to one another.
Trade ReviewDalton and Kramer argue that public discourse in the United States has become increasingly and dangerously coarser, due to market logic that "has us communicating instrumentally, modeling computers, seeking efficacy and efficiency, all at the expense of both the relationships of which we are aware and the neglected binds we have with strangers." After a theoretical overview, more specific topics are examined, including the role of opinion leaders in fomenting anti-intellectualism, the growing coarseness in US politics, Western art in crisis, postdenominational megachurches fostering selfishness, and the entertainment industry's enculturation of marketplace ideology. All chapters relate to the central thesis that "capitalism, as it manifests in the United States today, has helped foster and encourage a gross form of individualism, what we term 'hypertrophic individualism.'" The communication environment, Dalton and Kramer argue, contributes significantly to the growing "public's use of and acquiescence to vulgar, aggressive, and unreasonable messages." Some readers may want more discussion of cooperation and altruism that is also seen in the world, facilitated by new technologies, for example. Overall, an interesting and thought-provoking argument. Summing Up: Recommended. Upper-division undergraduate, graduate, research, and professional collections. * CHOICE *
Dalton and Kramer’s book goes beyond arguing that we live in a less civil communication environment. Anyone observing the tenor of today’s national political discussion can see that. Instead, this book examines why public communication is coarser and what this coarseness means for our society and our democracy. . . . Dalton and Kramer’s book is a warning that we are headed in a dangerous direction. For our public communication to help build the communities we desire, then our attitudes must reflect an appreciation for the humanity in others – even those with whom we disagree. We must recognize that our messages are more than reflections of the communities we want. Our messages actually constitute the communities in which we live. -- Howard Dean, Former Vermont Governor and former Chairman of the DNC
Table of ContentsContents Introduction: Atlas Slouched Chapter 1: Noise, Fragmentation, and Absurdity in U.S. Public Communication Chapter 2: Coarseness in the Public Sphere Chapter 3: Coarseness in U.S. Politics Chapter 4: Coarseness and Reason Chapter 5: Art and Cultivated Vulgarity Chapter 6: Post-Denominational Christianity and Coarseness Chapter 7: Entertainment and the Entertainment Market-as-Democracy Meme Conclusion: Our Age of Cynicism About the Authors Index
