Date of Award
Spring 2020
Degree Name
Bachelor of Arts
Department
Historical & Political Studies; College of Arts & Sciences
First Advisor
Angela Kachuyevski
Abstract
Adapting the Ethnographic Discourse Analysis method developed by Stanton Wortham and Angela Reyes this thesis traces the language employed in the ethno-nationalist web series Murdoch Murdoch. While not as widely known as other examples of the burgeoning landscape of far-right internet content such as news sites like InfoWars or Brietbart, Murdoch Murdoch can still reveal crucial details about how far right propaganda seeks to radicalize its viewers. This thesis argues that Murdoch Murdoch uses its visual and discursive indexicals to present a near absolute dichotomy between a Positive Self that consists of white ethno-nationalism, and a Negative Other that includes virtually all other ideologies and people groups. By presenting politics as a choice between these two absolutes and positioning the series’ protagonists as protectors of traditionalism and white identity, Murdoch Murdoch seeks to present demographic changes and social progress as threats to the viewer's ontological security. This thesis then concludes that Murdoch Murdoch’s approach to propaganda is emblematic of methods far-right propaganda has often employed.
Recommended Citation
Morein, Julian, ""Your Enemy is Anyone Who Opposes the Fourteen Words" Murdoch Murdoch: A Case Study in Presentations of Threats to Ontological Security in Far Right Propaganda" (2020). Capstone Showcase. 3.
https://scholarworks.arcadia.edu/showcase/2020/pgl/3
"Your Enemy is Anyone Who Opposes the Fourteen Words" Murdoch Murdoch: A Case Study in Presentations of Threats to Ontological Security in Far Right Propaganda
Adapting the Ethnographic Discourse Analysis method developed by Stanton Wortham and Angela Reyes this thesis traces the language employed in the ethno-nationalist web series Murdoch Murdoch. While not as widely known as other examples of the burgeoning landscape of far-right internet content such as news sites like InfoWars or Brietbart, Murdoch Murdoch can still reveal crucial details about how far right propaganda seeks to radicalize its viewers. This thesis argues that Murdoch Murdoch uses its visual and discursive indexicals to present a near absolute dichotomy between a Positive Self that consists of white ethno-nationalism, and a Negative Other that includes virtually all other ideologies and people groups. By presenting politics as a choice between these two absolutes and positioning the series’ protagonists as protectors of traditionalism and white identity, Murdoch Murdoch seeks to present demographic changes and social progress as threats to the viewer's ontological security. This thesis then concludes that Murdoch Murdoch’s approach to propaganda is emblematic of methods far-right propaganda has often employed.
Comments
Created by Politics, Government and Law major