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Theses and Dissertations

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https://hdl.handle.net/10217/100387

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Browsing Theses and Dissertations by Author "Anderson, Karrin, advisor"

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    Developing (super)citizenship: constituting idealized American citizenship in the Avengers: Earth's mightiest heroes
    (Colorado State University. Libraries, 2014) Luurs, Geoffrey, author; Anderson, Karrin, advisor; Diffrient, David Scott, committee member; Marx, Nicholas, committee member; Martey, Rosa, committee member
    This thesis explores two elements of character design in select episodes from the animated series The Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes (Disney XD 2010-2012) that guide audiences towards dominant readings of idealized American citizenship utilizing both close textual analysis and ideographic criticism. I argue that select episodes of The Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes contain representations of hyper-patriotic Americanized superheroes and un-American super villains which work together to teach viewers about dominant ideologies of Americanness and un-Americanness. In doing so, the text directs viewers towards a specific understanding of how to become idealized American (super)citizens.
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    "France deserves to be free": constituting Frenchness in Marine Le Pen's National Front/National Rally
    (Colorado State University. Libraries, 2020) Seitz, Lauren, author; Anderson, Karrin, advisor; Khrebtan-Hörhager, Julia, committee member; Daum, Courtenay, committee member
    This thesis employs constitutive rhetoric to analyze French far-right politician Marine Le Pen's discourse. Focusing on ten of Le Pen's speeches given between 2015 and 2019, I argue that Le Pen made use of Kenneth Burke's steps of scapegoating and purification as a way to rewrite French national identity and constitute herself as a revolutionary political leader. Le Pen first identified with the subjects and system that she scapegoats. Next, she cast out elites, globalists, and immigrants, identifying them as scapegoats of France's contemporary identity split. Finally, by disidentifying with the scapegoats, Le Pen constituted her followers as always already French patriots and herself as her leader. This allowed her to propose a new form of French national identity that was undergirded by far-right ideals and discourse of revolution. This thesis presents several implications for understanding contemporary French national identity, the far right, and women politicians. It also contributes to the project of internationalizing public address research in Communication Studies.
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    The vernacular rhetoric of and audience responses to The debut
    (Colorado State University. Libraries, 2015) Casem, Anika, author; Anderson, Karrin, advisor; Aoki, Eric, advisor; Sorensen, Leif, committee member
    In this thesis I look at an early Filipina/o American film, The Debut (2000). As one of the first of its kind The Debut was written, starred, directed, supported, produced, and created by and for the Filipino/a community (Ginsela 2003a; Ginsela 2003b). The marginalized Filipina/o American community has little power and little say within contemporary U.S. society and as a result, they are rarely acknowledged in U.S. economics, politics, culture, history, and society (Cordova 1983; Espiritu 2003). The silencing of the Filipina/o American community has resulted in creating a population of people who appear to have been erased from the public memory of the country they inhabit. The erasure and silencing has repercussions for the identity of the Filipina/o American community and issues surrounding identity. To explore Filipina/o American identity, I employ a dual methodology. The first is a critical analysis of the Filipina/o American film The Debut (2000). Using a theory of vernacular rhetoric I argue The Debut showcases several identities which consist of a both/and quality that allows the Filipina/o American community to maintain an identity at odds with itself. The second approach is an audience analysis of Filipina/o American college age students who discuss the relevance of the experiences depicted in the film to their own lives. In the conclusion I discuss that we need to continue educating the public about representations on screen; there needs to be more research done on vernacular discourses, ethnic audiences, and focus groups; there needs to be a cultivation of appreciation in the Filipina/o American community for film as art; for the time being, instead of more research being done by scholars what we actually need is for the Filipina/o American community to create more films.
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    "There is no normal": how Ms. Marvel constitutes U.S. American citizenship between comics and screen
    (Colorado State University. Libraries, 2024) Bowar, Kyra, author; Anderson, Karrin, advisor; Marx, Nick, committee member; Martey, Rosa, committee member
    In 2014, a new superhero crashed into the Marvel Comics universe; Kamala Khan, a Muslim Pakistani American superheroine, took on the heroic mantle of "Ms. Marvel." Then, in 2022, Kamala's story was adapted to the screen as a part of Disney's Marvel Cinematic Universe. Ms. Marvel's story is one of intersections, tensions, and navigating identity in a contemporary, multicultural America. To understand how Marvel and Disney constitute U.S. American citizenship and identity, this thesis compares two versions of Kamala Khan's superhero origin story: the Marvel comic, Ms. Marvel: No Normal (2014), and its streaming television show adaptation on Disney+, Ms. Marvel (2022), produced by Disney's Marvel Studios. Pairing rhetorical criticism with media industry analysis, I argue that, through their adaptation of Ms. Marvel to the screen, Disney widens the borders around U.S. American sociocultural belonging enough to incorporate intersectionally marginalized identities without fully displacing hegemonic understandings of U.S. American citizenship. This thesis demonstrates the utility of multi-methodological critical analysis and expands the theory of constitutive rhetoric by demonstrating how one text can interpellate audience members differently. My analysis also illustrates the continued relevance of superhero media as exemplars of identity formation in contemporary culture.