Strategic Ambiguity in the Production and Reception of War Dramas
2013-06
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Strategic Ambiguity in the Production and Reception of War Dramas
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2013-06
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This project uses the rhetorical concept of strategic ambiguity to analyze how U.S. war films from 2006 through 2011 framed the politics of the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan. I argue that, rather than presenting partisan propaganda or apolitical drama, these films purposefully ambiguated their political positions in order to please both supporters and opponents of the wars. I begin by examining how industrial constraints on depicting the politics the wars led to ambiguity as a representational tactic. Using the 2007 drama <italic>Grace Is Gone</italic> as a case study, I then conduct a qualitative and quantitative audience survey suggesting how viewers' can interpret the film's political positions. I conclude by arguing that, rather than criticizing Hollywood for a left- or rightwing bias in matters of war, we must instead understand how discourses of apoliticality serve the industry's military-industrial interests.
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University of Minnesota M.A. thesis. June 2013. Major: Communication Studies. Advisor: Mary Vavrus. 1 computer file (PDF); iii, 74 pages.
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Hassoun, Daniel. (2013). Strategic Ambiguity in the Production and Reception of War Dramas. Retrieved from the University Digital Conservancy, https://hdl.handle.net/11299/174775.
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