Lisa Horton (Assistant Professor in ELWS) and David Beard (Associate Professor in ELWS) announce the publication of their Special Issue of The Journal of Contemporary Rhetoric on Remix Rhetoric.
According to Professor Horton, the special issue is a great introduction to a new way of seeing the world. "Remix theory is a relative newcomer in critical theory (the ways in which we talk about how culture and the art we create affect us). This special issue demonstrates an exciting bridge between how contemporary culture works and how we can, as scholars and citizens alike, make insightful and sophisticated conversation about it."Â
Articles explain the persuasive power of political memes on Facebook, of feminist Tumblr pages, and of remixes of music by Yoko Ono. It unpacks remixes of fairy tales, steampunk literature, video games and the movie Firefly, among many other topics. Â
"The project demonstrates the value of rhetoric, and of the liberal arts generally, for understanding political and popular culture in an age of new media," according to Professor David Beard.
The Minnesota and Duluth connections to the journal are strong, as the issue features essays by scholars from the Twin Cities campus of the U of M and from alumni of UMD's MA in English who have gone on to doctoral study at other universities.
The Journal of Contemporary Rhetoric promotes the idea of public intellectualism, a different kind of scholarship. Its editors believe that the walls between academia and the rest of the world must become more permeable, and this issue is a great start to that process.
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