The Monstrous Discourse in the Donald Trump Campaign

This book argues that the use of the monster metaphor through media coverage and discourse surrounding Donald Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign suggests characteristics of the monstrous in the public discourse, warranting concerns for the future of national discourse.

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The Monstrous Discourse in the Donald Trump Campaign: Implications for National Discourse provides a lens through which to explore the implications of the monster metaphor as applied to Trump during the 2016 presidential election. Analyzing the overt and buried usages of the monster metaphor in the media’s and Trump’s discourse, as well as the structure of the monster narrative generally, offers connections between the metaphor and the actions incited by its narrative. This book explores the ways in which this language also serves as a metaphor to understand the ecology of Trump’s candidacy and the polarized responses drawn by his campaign, and considers its troubling implications for the future direction of national discourse.