Obama as Anti-American: Visual Folklore in Right-Wing Forwarded E-mails and Construction of Conservative Social IdentityPosted in Articles, Barack Obama, New Media, Social Science, United States on 2012-04-23 20:03Z by Steven |
Journal of American Folklore
Volume 125, Number 496, Spring 2012
pages 177-203
DOI: 10.1353/jaf.2012.0018
Margaret Duffy, Associate Professor of Journalism
University of Missouri
Janis Teruggi Page
George Washington University
Rachel Young
Missouri School of Journalism
This paper investigates the group-building potential of forwarded e-mails through a visual analysis of negative images about President Barack Obama. We argue that these e-mails are a form of political digital folklore that may contribute to constructing participants’ individual and group identities. Images amplify the impact and believability of the messages, especially when linked to familiar cultural references and experiences and may lead to increased political polarization and hostility.
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