Coarseness in U.S. Public Communication

Philip Dalton isassistant professor and chair of speech communication, rhetoric and performance studies at Hofstra University. He teaches courses in political communication, argumentation and debate, qualitative research methods and intercultural communication.Eric Mark Kramer is professor of communication at the University of Oklahoma. He is also affiliate faculty in the College of International Studies.

• ContentsIntroduction: Atlas SlouchedChapter 1: Noise, Fragmentation, and Absurdity in U.S. Public CommunicationChapter 2: Coarseness in the Public SphereChapter 3: Coarseness in U.S. PoliticsChapter 4: Coarseness and ReasonChapter 5: Art and Cultivated VulgarityChapter 6: Post-Denominational Christianity and CoarsenessChapter 7: Entertainment and the Entertainment Market-as-Democracy MemeConclusion: Our Age of CynicismAbout the Authors Index

Dalton 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.