"PragerU as Genre: How Ideologies Typify Speech"
Download PDF About the AuthorChristopher Luis Shosted is a student at Moravian College in Bethlehem, PA. He will graduate in May of 2020 with a B.A. in English and a certification in writing arts. Since enrolling at Moravian College in 2018, Christopher has focused on understanding the drives behind rhetorics that harm marginalized groups. He plans to continue his education through a Master’s and Ph.D program where he wishes to put rhetorical theory in conversation with literary studies. Contents |
PragerU and Post-TruthPragerU is not an isolated case; instead, it represents one application of post-truth rhetoric in modern discourse. The claims made by these videos are demonstrably false, poorly argued, and harmful to society, yet they are still effective. Due to myriad factors, post-truth rhetoric has gained a place within the rhetorical tradition, and unethical as it might be, it merits discussion to counter it. As Bruce McComiskey writes in his 2017 book Post-Truth Rhetoric and Composition, “[post-truth] is a fact of life, it is here to stay, and, as rhetoricians and teachers of writing, we’re going to have to deal with it” (6). The claims espoused by PragerU are false, but to say that these speakers are lying is to misrepresent these actions. Rather, the website has abandoned distinctions between true and false and is only concerned with establishing, promoting, and reaffirming an ideology. McComiskey states, “In this post-truth world (without truth or lies) language becomes purely strategic, without reference to anything but itself” (8). Rhetors whose agenda runs contrary to objective truth face a crisis due to fact-checking being easier than ever now. The internet and its proliferation allow anyone with so much as a cell phone to counter any claim with the truth. The issue here lies in the modern definition of truth. With strategic language, rhetoric becomes less of a constructive action where the rhetor researches, supports, and finally argues their interpretation of the truth, and instead becomes a battlefield where participants employ statements that suit their ideologies. The use of so-called "alternative facts" is the locus of the rhetorical strategies outlined in this analysis. Post-truth rhetoric and its rhetors attempt to dismantle the understanding of truth as we know it. McComiskey cites Benjamin Tallis who claims that through ideologies based around consistent cynicism, post-truth rhetors have damaged the epistemological continuum that defines truth as a concept (8-9). Post-truth rhetoric creates an ecology where everything is at once false and true, therefore audiences are not swayed by appeals to logic; instead, pathos and ethos become the rhetorical currency that these rhetors trade in. PragerU is a repetition of the rhetorical style that gave rise to Fox News. Jeffrey Jones, in his essay titled “Fox News and the Performance of Ideology,” states:
Like Fox News, PragerU constructs a narrative comprised of villains destroying the American way of life, and the heroes who stand in their way. Through the establishment of genres, PragerU and Fox News craft communities of purpose due to their ideological cores. In addition, by mimicking institutions that are known for their honesty, they position themselves as the true successors to these rhetorical traditions while the others are relegated to the status of "fake news" and post-modern universities. Post-truth rhetoric presents a clear danger for the health of discourse. While the locutionary acts performed by post-truth rhetors may have little to no basis in reality, the perlocutionary effects they beget will change reality. McComiskey notes that regardless of whether fake news is fake, it is still news, and people will treat it as such (14-15). Rhetoric may be tied to its relationship with persuasion, but the nature of that persuasion may have an inexorable link to ideology. As long as PragerU exists under its current branding, there will be those who interpret it as better than the real thing. The videos discussed in this essay contain a torrent of information to unpack and analyze, and most of that information is false. Multiply the number of claims in these videos by the more than 300 other videos thus far that comprise the main series of PragerU, and the scattershot strategy begins to reveal itself. A viewer of these videos is placed in a precarious position where verifying the sheer number of these claims is not feasible. The danger here is in how PragerU presents itself. Through targeted advertising on platforms such as YouTube, a PragerU video can appear in its entirety before an unrelated video. Through their generic mimicry, reaffirmation of ideologies, and deconstruction of institutions that can challenge them, PragerU’s videos demonstrate a clear need for further rhetorical research and scrutiny. |