-
Acknowledgments
- Utah State University Press
- Chapter
- Additional Information
Ack nowledgments As I write these words, the country is in the midst of another presidential campaign, and the media scorecard of brilliant moves and clumsy mistakes, of zingers and gaffes (if you prefer), is already in full force. While the Republican candidate has already managed to accumulate an impressive record of strategic errors, verbal blunders, and assorted infelicities , the Democratic incumbent has made some notable missteps as well. Perhaps the most famous (and controversial) of President Barack Obama’s recent campaign statements was his remark, endlessly repeated in stories and clips, and removed from any contextual frame: “You didn’t make that!” Obama’s statement was roundly criticized (at least in some quarters) as a kind of heresy—a wholesale rejection of such enduring American values as private initiative, entrepreneurship, self-reliance, true grit, and the celebrated theme of the self-made individual. I heard President Obama’s statement in a different way, though, as I believe he intended it—as a reminder that, in our democracy, private achievements, however admirable, are always, in some degree, made possible by public resources, whether these resources occur at the material level (i.e., roads, schools, public spaces, etc.) or at more abstract levels as well (i.e., laws, trade agreements, subsidies, tax policies , etc.). What I thought was an obvious affirmation of public life and its fundamental importance to our democracy was interpreted very differently by the many pundits, commentators, and experts who occupy our political landscape today. A remark that I did not hear as particularly controversial nonetheless sparked the flames of outrage, especially among those whose political viewpoints, not surprisingly, I do not share. I was reminded of this campaign episode as I began to compose my expressions of gratitude to the many friends, students, and colleagues who made this book possible. In the crowded solitude of authoring a book, I was continually reminded of just how much this effort is a collaborative project, enabled by the generosity, advice, support, and thoughtful exchange of ideas I have had with many others along the way. Yes, I wrote this book, but I did not write it alone. I am therefore abundantly grateful for the inspiration, encouragement, and assistance I received x After the public turn from the following persons, without whose contributions this work simply would not be. First, I wish to thank the University of Kansas Department of English for the material support I received as a 2011 recipient of the department ’s Haines Faculty Research Fellowship. I wish also to thank the university for granting me a Keeler Intra-University Professorship, an award that provided me with the time needed to make significant progress on my manuscript. In addition, the same award allowed me to design, along with my colleague, Dave Tell, an advanced seminar on the rhetoric of counterpublic discourses, which we co-taught in the spring of 2012. Many of the ideas elaborated in these pages were first tested in that seminar, and I would be remiss if I did not acknowledge the remarkable student members of that class and the often amazing discussions they provoked. Thank you Jeff Arterburn, Rachel Bloom, Brett Bricker, Chelsea Graham, Justin Kirk, Vince Meserko, Erin Murray, Meaghan Varieur, Justin Wilson, and Mark Wonnacott. I also wish to thank Cedric Burrows, Daryl Lynn Dance, Kendra Fullwood, and Lisa Stockton, who, in completing their own projects, taught me a great deal about my own. Among my departmental colleagues, I owe a special note of gratitude to members of the Literature, Rhetoric, and Social Justice Group, most of whose members read and responded to an early draft of my first chapter. My sincere appreciation to Marta Caminero-Santangelo, Katie Conrad, Amy Devitt, Maryemma Graham, Laura Mielke, and Mary Jo Reiff for their excellent insights and many helpful comments. Several colleagues outside of my department also read portions of this manuscript , and to these friends and colleagues I must also extend my thanks: Jeff Williams, Emily Donnelli-Sallee, Paul Butler, Jason Barrett-Fox, and, of course, my three anonymous peer reviewers, all of whom offered enormously helpful comments and criticisms. In my wanderings underground, so to speak, I was extremely fortunate to have a number of guides who led me through some unfamiliar territory and who provided me with a new appreciation for alternative communities, alternative perspectives, and, ultimately, an alternative view of what a public is. I wish, then, to thank members of my Cultural Advisory Board (CAB): Iain Ellis, Jim Gardner, Sarah...