Date of Award
8-1-2011
Document Type
Dissertation
Degree Name
Ph.D.
Organizational Unit
College of Arts Humanities and Social Sciences
First Advisor
Christina Foust, Ph.D.
Second Advisor
Roy Wood
Third Advisor
Daniel J. Lair
Fourth Advisor
Douglas D. Hesse
Keywords
Narratives, Rhetoric, Vaccinations
Abstract
Parents in developed countries like the United States are questioning the need for and safety of childhood vaccinations. Incidences of disease have risen as fewer parents have vaccinated their children. Perhaps the most significant public figure to reinforce the choices of parents not-to-vaccinate is Jenny McCarthy, whose best-selling book details her theory about the cause of, and cure for, her son‘s autism. As I demonstrate, the study of the narratives is vital for understanding the vaccination crisis, not the least because of the extent to which McCarthy‘s (2007) story has echoed through parenting communities. I examine whether chosen anti- and pro-vaccination narratives meet the requirements of Fisher‘s (1984) narrative paradigm. In addition, I examine how the narratives might promote a sense of identification with audience members, particularly in how the narrators deal with a sense of guilt about the condition of their children (Burke, 1969). Further, I concentrate on both the functional nature of these narratives and on the constitutive components. The public is clearly divided on the vaccination issue. As I argue, this division may well come down to the way in which these distinct narratives constitute audiences differently, constitutions that both encourage people to act in particular ways through a sense of identification, and also outline the boundaries of what it means to be a ―good‖ parent, such that one may be more swayed, consciously or unconsciously, by one type of narrative than another. Finally, I examine how the narratives deal with the conflict between personal choice and the public good. This dissertation also addresses the question of how to make Fisher‘s paradigm a powerful tool for the rhetorical analysis of narratives. As I argue, focusing more explicitly than has previously been done on the Burkean (1969a, 1969b) concept of identification and including Burke‘s guilt/purification/redemption cycle in the analysis of narratives, we begin to see why stories that ―should‖ be rejected by readers for failing to achieve the requirements of the narrative paradigm become widely accepted instead. In addition, this dissertation contributes to the field of communication, particularly health communication.
Publication Statement
Copyright is held by the author. User is responsible for all copyright compliance.
Rights Holder
Katherine Hurley
Provenance
Received from ProQuest
File Format
application/pdf
Language
en
File Size
234 p.
Recommended Citation
Hurley, Katherine M., "To Get the Shot or Not: Narratives, Rhetoric, and the Childhood Vaccination Crisis" (2011). Electronic Theses and Dissertations. 300.
https://digitalcommons.du.edu/etd/300
Copyright date
2011
Discipline
Communication