Overview

The Monstrous Discourse in the Donald Trump Campaign: Implications for National Discourse provides a lens through which to explore the implications of the monster metaphor as applied to Trump during the 2016 presidential election. Analyzing the overt and buried usages of the monster metaphor in the media’s and Trump’s discourse, as well as the structure of the monster narrative generally, offers connections between the metaphor and the actions incited by its narrative. This book explores the ways in which this language also serves as a metaphor to understand the ecology of Trump’s candidacy and the polarized responses drawn by his campaign, and considers its troubling implications for the future direction of national discourse.

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9781498547017

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To this day, the 2016 presidential campaign seems an exercise in horror and the uncanny. Thus Williams and Prince treat it as a struggle over who was the metaphorical monster, and to what effect. They show how efforts to cast Donald Trump as monstrous mostly succumbed in the media to his own mini-narratives of monstrosity-by the media, migrants, politicians, Hillary Clinton or women in general, and many others. Especially helpful is the authors' explanation of audience contributions to making potent metaphors. Whether you're a fan or foe of metaphors-or monsters-Williams and Prince provide an engaging analysis. -- John S. Nelson, University of Iowa The Monstrous Discourse in the Donald Trump Campaign: Implications for National Discourse is a sharp analysis of recent political discourse and the power of metaphors. It is a timely and important contribution to monster studies. -- Sara K. Howe, Southern New Hampshire University Prince and Williams thoroughly and thoughtfully engage the potentially problematic presence of the monster in American discourse. Their insightful analysis of elements of the Trump presidential campaign gives careful attention to concerning trends and asks us to consider the repercussions of the flippantly deployed monster metaphor. -- Mark Patterson, Abilene Christian University

Author Information

Debbie Jay Williams is professor of language and literature at Abilene Christian University. Kalyn L. Prince is graduate student in the English PhD program at the University of Oklahoma.

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