A dream deferred: The failed fantasy of Norman Lear's<i>a.k.a. Pablo</i>

Mayerle, Judine

doi:10.1080/10510978709368244

Cited by 5 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 8 publications

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“…Many critics have often successfully used Bormann's dramatistic (also called 'fantasy-theme') analysis to trace dramatic themes as they migrate from their small-group origins to the mass media. Mayerle's (1987) analysis reveals how the small-group fantasies of writers and producers, initialy favourable towards a challenging project, changed as the scripts for their controversial new television show were actually written. Scharf (1986) used fantasy-theme analysis to study newspaper and magazine accounts .…”

Section: The Dramatistic Perspectivementioning

confidence: 99%

Good and Evil in the Chairmen's 'Boiler Plate': An Analysis of Corporate Visions of the 1970s

Kendall

1993

Organization Studies

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Boiler plates, the chairman's message that begins each corporation's annual report, provide a reflection of the self-image of American big business. This paper uses the method of dramatism for discovering and interpreting corporate dramas inherent in the language of the boiler plates of the Dow Jones Industrials. The U.S. economy of the 1970s provides the dramatic setting, with the company as hero, the government as villain and public interest groups as minor players. The overriding corporate drama can be traced to the archetypal drama of pure competition. Understanding corporate dramas allows us to see how companies create a shared rhetorical vision to unify their shareholders with management and employees, label actions as good or evil, and influence the public by putting forward a positive corporate self-image.

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Section: The Dramatistic Perspectivementioning

confidence: 99%

Good and Evil in the Chairmen's 'Boiler Plate': An Analysis of Corporate Visions of the 1970s

Kendall

1993

Organization Studies

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“…To provide a fair assessment of the dialogue, however, we must note that such reactive inputs were balanced by constructive reviews of significant SCT works (Balthrop, 1979;Cathcart, 1986;Combs, 1980;Eadie, 1982;Measell, 1982;Mickey, 1982), by refutations of the critics and updates of SCT developments (Bormann, 1982b(Bormann, , 1983a(Bormann, , 1983b(Bormann, , 1983c(Bormann, , 1985a(Bormann, , 1986(Bormann, ,1989, by text book explanations of SCT (Brock, Scott, & Chesebro, 1990;FOSS, FOSS, & Trapp, 1985;Frey, Botan, Friedman, & Kreps, 1991;Hart, 1990;Infante, Rancer, & Womack, 1990;Larson, 1992;Littlejohn, 1992;Rybacki & Rybacki, 1991;Smith, 1990;Trendholm, 1991), and, of course, by the continued publication of SCT studies (Bormann, 1982a(Bormann, , 1985bBormann, Kroll, Watters, & McFarland, 1984;Bormann, Pratt, & Putnam, 1978;Cragan & Cutbirth, 1984;Cragan & Shields, 1992;Doyle, 1985;Endres, 1989;Foss & Littlejohn, 1986;Heisey & Treblin, 1983;Hubbard, 1985;Koester, 1982;Kroll, 1983;Mayerle, 1987;McFarland, 1985;Nimmo & Combs, 1982;…”

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confidence: 99%

In Defense of Symbolic Convergence Theory: A Look at The Theory and Its Criticisms After Two Decades

1994

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This paper argues that not only is theory-building often unfashionable, but the spurious assumption that the presence of scholarly disputes signifies the need to abandon theory-building efforts adds to the difficulties of those willing to develop and expand general theories of human communication. We argue that the time is at hand to provide a new response to the published criticism of the symbolic convergence theory (SCT) and its attendant method of fantasy theme analysis (FTA). Since 1977, critics have made a number of charges about the usefulness of the symbolic convergence theory. We have collapsed the more frequently mentioned and argued points into four indictments of SCT: ( 1 ) SCT's proponents have not clarified the basic presuppositions that undergird the theory;(2) SCT is Freudian-based and therefore applies only to small group communication;(3) SCT's insights are researcher-dependent not dependent on the theory; (4) SCT is a relabeling of old concepts with ttivialjargon that lacks precision and clarity. This paper explains and refutes each indictment. The paper concludes with a discussion of constructive criticism and the harms resulting from indiscriminate and unjustified criticism on theory building in general.

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“…Although Bormann initially developed the fantasy theme method to analyze communication within small groups, it has been applied in many other ways as well. It has been used to analyze mass media (e.g., Foss & Littlejohn, 1986;Mayerle, 1987), press coverage (Bormann, 1982b;Duffy, 1997), and political movements (Bormann et al, 1996;Callahan, 1993), but it has also been used in a few instances to analyze organizational and business communication (e.g., Cragan & Shields, 1992;Jackson, 1999;Putnam, Van Hoeven, & Bullis, 1991). '…”

Section: Genrementioning

confidence: 99%

“…Several researchers have used fantasy theme rhetorical criticism to analyze various types of communication. Although Bormann originally developed the fantasy theme method for analyzing small group communication, it has been used in many other situations, such as in analyzing movies and television series (e.g., Foss & Littlejohn's [1986] analysis of the movie The Day After and Mayerle's [1987] analysis of the failed Norman Lear situation comedy oka Pablo), press coverage (e.g., Duffy's [1997] analysis of the Iowa legislature's approval of river boat gambling and Bormann's [1982b] analysis of the television coverage of Reagan's inaugural and the Iranian hostage release) and political movements (e.g., Callahan's [1993] analysis of Jesse Jackson's speeches and Bormann, Cragan and Shields' [1996] discussion of the Cold War rhetorical vision). In my study, I follow the lead of other researchers who have applied the method to business and organizational conmiunication.…”

Section: Examples Of Fantasy Theme Analysis In Business and Organizatmentioning

confidence: 99%

Introducing change: A rhetorical analysis of the early communications in mergers and acquisitions

Bloch

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Change and uncertainty are integral elements of any organization, yet they are not easy to face and they elicit a wide range of responses among organizational members. This study uses a rhetorical approach to examine the communications directed to employees in one type of organizational change-mergers and acquisitions. Based on a review of the mergers and acquisitions, management, organizational behavior, and rhetoric and professional communication literature, I identify four major rhetorical challenges that need to be addressed in the early communications in mergers and acquisitions: setting the stage for cultural change, addressing emotions, dealing with uncertainty, and building ' Technically, a merger is a business combination in which two organizations are blended together; in an acquisition, one organization takes ownership of another. Early research, however, found that employees often use the term "merger" to refer to acquisitions because the word "merge" seems less offensive than the word "acquire" (Mace & Montgomery. 1962, pp. 3-4). This semantic choice proved true for Firmco, one of the research sites in the study I present in this dissertation. Even though Firmco was acquired, the transaction was often referred to as a merger. Therefore, throughout this dissertation, the terms "merger" and "acquisition" are not always used in the technically correct sense. It is not. however, the distinction between merger and acquisition that characterizes the actual workplace situation. Buono and Bowditch (1989, pp. S9-86) identify three important dynamics in merger/acquisition situations that are more integral to the human effects of the transaction: strategic purpose, degree of fiiendliness or hostility, and level of desired integration. ' The acquisition of NCR by AT&T is a prime example of an acquisition that ultimately failed; NCR lost $4 billion in the five years after the merger (Sirower, 1997, pp. 34-35; Wasserstein, 1998, pp. 319-321). Many NCR employees (including most of the top managers-and, incidentally, me) left the company during the years following the acquisition. Jerre Stead (the AT&T executive eventually sent to run NCR, which was renamed AT&T GIS) helped the former NCR culture become more values-based and team-oriented (McCune, 1999), based on a set of values called "Our Common Bond." AT&T spun off AT&T GIS in 1996. For an analysis of the AT&T/NCR transaction from a public relations perspective, see Fudge (1995). Purpose of this Research In examining the early communications in mergers and acquisitions, I have three main purposes: to apply a rhetorical perspective to the early communications in mergers and acquisitions, to continue efforts to connect rhetoric and professional communication research with that of management, and to build theory with respect to the early communications in mergers and acquisitions. I next briefly explain each of these purposes. Rhetorical perspective An important reason for pursuing this topic is that it has not been explicitly addressed in depth from a rhetorical pe...

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A dream deferred: The failed fantasy of Norman Lear'sa.k.a. Pablo

Cited by 5 publications

References 8 publications

Good and Evil in the Chairmen's 'Boiler Plate': An Analysis of Corporate Visions of the 1970s

Good and Evil in the Chairmen's 'Boiler Plate': An Analysis of Corporate Visions of the 1970s

In Defense of Symbolic Convergence Theory: A Look at The Theory and Its Criticisms After Two Decades

Introducing change: A rhetorical analysis of the early communications in mergers and acquisitions

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