COMM 2212 Fascist Rhetoric and Representation

This course may be used to satisfy one of four electives required within the Communication major. This course will interrogate the rhetoric and aesthetics of fascism as a system of governmentality and as a mentality, both of which are characterized by a desire for dictatorial control, the forcible suppression of opposing positions and perspectives, and a preoccupation with rigidly defined hierarchies of power and privilege. We will survey the origins of fascism in the 20th century Europe, as embodied in political leaders such as Mussolini, Hitler, and Stalin, with particular focus on the ways in facist ideology was disseminated and absorbed through the production and consumption of popular culture. We will then turn to contemporary manifestations of neo-fascsim, including the recent rise of ethno-nationalist groups in America