It's Not a Lie if You Believe It: Donald Trump's Gonzo Expertise as Dramaturgical Performance
R.J. Maratea
The American Sociologist (2024) 55(4): 412-435
This article introduces the concept of gonzo expertise to contextualize the rhetorical techniques used by Donald Trump to frame himself as a credible expert on any topic regardless of his intellectual interest or actual knowledge of those matters. Using a samply of 57 interview and public event transcripts, four rhetorical framing techniques are identified that validate Trump's problem-solving expertise and authenticate himself as the primary definer of what is real and represents truth fo millions of Americans, while simultaneously casting doubt on social reality by attacking facts and delegitimizing the social actors and institutions that confer status and legitimacy on traditional experts who validate those facts. First, Trump establishes hyper-masculine dominance over factual reality. Second, he directs focus away from rationality and logic by appealing to emotion, outrage, and fear. Third, Trump uses populist savior imagery to foster cohesion, trust, and compliance among supporters. Finally, Trump articulates an us-versus-them worldview that frames his truth as a moral imperative that must be believed without equivocation.
Brian Monahan and R.J. Maratea
Symbolic Interaction (2021) 44(4): 699-727
Abstract
This article examines the rhetorical structure of Donald Trump's Twitter communication during the 2016 presidential campaign. Several recurring frames and themes are identified and the analysis traces how these elements intersect with one another to build and advance a narrative that depicts a world overrun with dire threats, thus providing a symbolic backdrop for outlandish rhetoric and espousal of far-reaching policies portrayed as necessary to protect idealized morality and social order. Findings suggest new ways to assess the content of Trump's frequent tweets, as well as the need to better understand what the success of his "gonzo" story may reveal about modern political communication and the media ecosystem.
Media Coverage
BW Professor Researches How Donald Trump Bamboozled Millions With False Tweets
This Week in the Cle Podcast, Cleveland.com (Jan 19, 2021)
New Study Examines How Donald Trump Used Twitter to Craft an Alternative Reality for His Supporters
Seth Richardson, Cleveland Plain Dealer (Jan 17, 2021)
Philip R. Kavanaugh and R.J. Maratea
Journal of Contemporary Ethnography (2020) 49(1): 3-26
Abstract
In this article we engage the nature and role of the Internet in ethnographic research and reflect on how ethnographic methodologies may be adapted when researching digital forms of communication. We further consider how recent shifts in both the production and dissemination of textual discourse in networked media environments complicates conventional approaches to digital ethnography. Drawing on examples from our field research, our principal objective is to apply Foucauldian structural approaches to David Altheide's ethnographic content analysis to better contextualize the study of digital communiqué in a cultural moment where discourses are increasingly surveilled, modified, censored and weaponized.
Philip R. Kavanaugh and R.J. Maratea
Sexualities (2016) 19(1/2): 3-24
Abstract
Regulation plays a key role in the construction of sexuality. Given the extent to which new forms of communication technology have had a liberating effect on the production of new discourses emanating from historically marginalized sexual communities, this study examines how zoosexuals active in an online community work to construct, assert and manage their sex-based identities, situate their sexual practices, attempt to resolve ethical dilemmas, as well as moderate and sanction dissidents for the greater civility of zoosexual discourse. We conclude by further considering the complications inherent in accomplishing these interactive tasks in a virtual space.
R.J. Maratea
Qualitative Sociology Review (2015) 11(2): 144-159
Abstract
This article examines the Internet’s emergent role in the claims-making process. My central premise is while Internet technology provides lay citizens with a mass mediated platform to distribute claims publically, power dynamics in the public sphere have remained relatively stable: Insiders and lobbyists continue to be powerful cultural voices; the press still functions as a cultural gatekeeper of newsworthiness; most people continue to have relatively little social authority; and the least powerful risk being completely left out of a digital society. Using the National Rifle Association (NRA) web presence as a case study, I describe the Internet as a vast collection of interconnected public cyber-arenas where problem claims are continuously disseminated, global communication is facilitated via online advocacy networks, and claimants utilize novel cyber-strategies to mobilize supporters. In doing so, I examine how cyber-arenas fundamentally differ from more static traditional claims-making arenas like television, radio, and print publication. I conclude by considering the extent to which historically powerful insider claims-making groups like the NRA are actually best positioned to succeed in a supposedly democratized new media world.
R.J. Maratea and Brian Monahan
Symbolic Interaction (2013) 36(3): 261-274
Abstract
This study examines contemporary crime and punishment discourse in mass media to better understand the institutionalization of hyper-punitive sanctions as acceptable forms of social control. Our principle focus is on gonzo rhetoric, or the discourse and symbolism used to promote and justify exaggerated acts of punishment. Using a content analysis of 136 broadcast transcripts, we examine the rhetorical techniques employed by Sheriff Joe Arpaio, of Maricopa County, Arizona, in order to show how this brand of “crime talk” has become a central component of modern crime control culture. We suggest that the appeal of gonzo rhetoric is rooted in longstanding cultural assumptions about crime and disorder.
Giancarlo Panagia and R.J. Maratea
Green Theory & Praxis (2012) 6(1): 35-54
Abstract
This study attempts to examine governmental complicity with corporate malfeasance; it interprets how the original trust doctrine has been misapplied by federal agencies in such a way that the practice of internal colonialism subsidizes corporate control over indigenous peoples’ lands and resources. These governmental policies are veiled under the rhetoric that utilitarianism promotes the well-being for the people of the American West. However, utilitarian practices come at the sacrifice of “the others.” Utilitarian logic supports policies, which promote the commodification of nature. As long as the goal of furthering production for the greatest sum of good for the majority is satisfied, the others’ interests become, from a bureaucratic standpoint, inconsequential.
R.J. Maratea and Philip R. Kavanaugh
Sociology Compass (2012) 6(2): 102-112
Abstract
This article provides an overview of emerging research into the concept of deviant identity by highlighting major new directions in cyber-deviance scholarship. We suggest that the examination of deviance in online settings offers unique new insights into the processes of identity construction and reinforcement, role-play, and the social organization of deviant communities. We conclude by considering developments that may advance the literature on deviant identity in real world spaces, as well as expand the conceptual utility of deviance for other subareas of sociology.
R.J. Maratea
Deviant Behavior (2011) 32(10): 918-943
Abstract
This article seeks to extend existing research that addresses how deviant individuals use Internet technology to communicate accounts that neutralize hostile labels associated with their behaviors. Data were collected from a message board dedicated to zoophilia; the sample was comprised of 4,983 individual posts drawn from 87 discussion threads. Findings suggest that the posters routinely justify their actions through the production of neutralizing accounts. In particular, three new types of accounts were documented: appeals to enlightenment, claims of cultural diffusion, and neutralization by comparison.
David Keys and R.J. Maratea
Journal of the History of the Behavioral Sciences (2011) 47(2): 173-186
Abstract
Herbert Blumer stated throughout his long career that his ideas regarding collective behavior originated with his introduction to pragmatist philosophy under the auspices of G. H. Mead at the University of Chicago. Blumer’s biography however presents a different picture. First-hand experiences with mob behavior, collective outrage, and the fall-out associated with Blumer’s public utterances early in his career may have had significant impact on the eventual corpus of collective behavior.
Winner of the Society for the Study of Social Problems 2008 Social Problems Theory Outstanding Article Award
R.J. Maratea
Social Problems (2008) 55(1): 139-160
Abstract
Social problems theory has yet to fully address the impact that new communication technologies are having on the claimsmaking process. This article examines the emergence of the blogosphere as a cultural phenomenon that provides claimsmakers with a powerful new public arena to advance social problem claims. Using Hilgartner and Bosk’s (1988) public arenas model of social problem construction, blog-generated problem claims are examined to analyze how Internet driven social problems compete for public attention. Findings suggest that blogs make the claimsmaking process more efficient, offer expanded carrying capacity compared to traditional arenas, and provide outsider claimsmakers with greater opportunity to have a voice in social problems construction. Still, only a small number of blogs have become recognized as claimsmaking arenas; they still rely on traditional principles of selection; and bloggers face the same competition for mainstream media attention as claimsmakers using traditional arenas.
David L. Altheide, Barbara Gray, Roy Janisch, Lindsay Korbin, R.J. Maratea, Debra Neill, Joseph Reaves, and Felicia Van Deman
Qualitative Inquiry (2001) 7(3): 304-322
Abstract
A seminar project used the World Wide Web to examine the multiple meanings of fear and victim in various news media to explore the substance of news as well as experiment with using an interactive Web page in a seminar format. The approach used was triangulated qualitative document analysis (TQDA), which relied on an interactive Web page format that permitted multiple observers to view others’ data, analysis, and summary comments as well as incorporate these accounts into their own work. The aim was to foster a critical reflective analysis using online information bases and interacting with each other outside of class as well as during seminar session. The provocative findings were reflexively joined to the information technology and emergent interaction process.