Acknowledgments
Chapter 1
Wisdom from the Ancients: The Rhetorical History of Humor
Chapter 2
Damn Yankees: The History and Practice of Humor in the United
States
Chapter 3
Correspondents and Colbert: Address at the 2006 White House
Correspondents’ Dinner
Chapter 4
Congress and Colbert: Testimony on “Protecting our Nation’s
Harvest” in 2010 Before the Judiciary Subcommittee on Immigration,
Refugees and Border Security
Chapter 5
Citizens United and Colbert: The Satirical Super PAC, “Americans
for a Better Tomorrow, Tomorrow”
Chapter 6
Citizen Colbert: Humor as Rhetorical Education in the Public
Sphere
Bibliography
About the Author
Elizabeth Benacka is assistant professor in the Department of Communication at Lake Forest College.
In this analysis, Benacka (Lake Forest College) offers a broad view
of the rhetoric of humor. In six chapters, the author broadly
covers the history of humor and the history and practice of humor
in the US, and specifically offers a case study of the public
rhetoric of satirist Stephen Colbert. Colbert's uses of parody,
irony, and satire in such contexts as his performance at a 2006
White House Correspondents' Dinner, his testimony in 2010 to the
Judiciary Committee's Subcommittee on Immigration, Refugees, and
Border Security, and his 2012 Super PAC "Americans for a Better
Tomorrow, Tomorrow" are examined. A concluding chapter establishes
how Colbert's humor advances national conversations by calling
attention to the dysfunction of politicians and the media. Several
books about Colbert's influence have been written, such as Chad
Summers's Stephen Colbert: From Fake News To Real Comedy (Rounders,
2015), but none has examined Colbert's influence from an academic
perspective that explores the history of humor. This book would
serve as a fine supplemental text in courses about persuasion,
political communication, and pop culture. Summing Up: Recommended.
Upper-division undergraduates through faculty.
*CHOICE*
In Rhetoric, Humor, and the Public Sphere, Benacka offers a unique
vantage point to consider one of the great satirists of our times.
Taking us beyond the television screen, she deftly employs a rich
body of rhetorical theory to examine Stephen Colbert’s remarkable
forays into the public sphere. She makes a compelling case that
Colbert’s intersections with real political institutions represent
both a daring kind of political art and an innovative – and much
needed -- form of civic education.
*Geoffrey Baym, Temple University*
Benacka adeptly marries the history of rhetoric with contemporary
comedy and politics, using Stephen Colbert as exemplary case study
and bellwether.
*Amber Day, Bryant University*
In her insightful book, Dr. Benacka explores the relevance of
classical rhetorical theory for understanding the role played by
satire, parody and irony in 21st century U.S. public culture. Her
examination of Stephen Colbert's years-long performance as a
right-wing ideologue makes a strong case for the important role
these rhetorical techniques play in an increasingly fragmented
public realm. Her focus on moments when Colbert's character moved
out of the studio and into the world reveals much about the
fractured nature of our public spaces and about the symbiotic
relationship between political leaders and media elites in the
early 21st century.
*Mark A. Pollock, Loyola University Chicago*
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