Whiteness feels good here: interrogating white nationalist rhetoric on Stormfront

This essay adopts a critical rhetorical perspective attuned to affect to investigate white nationalist rhetoric on Stormfront, a popular white nationalist message board. My analysis illuminates how Stormfront attempts to appeal to mainstream white audiences by resisting normative expectations and af...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inCommunication and critical/cultural studies Vol. 17; no. 2; pp. 129 - 148
Main Author Hartzell, Stephanie L.
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Routledge 02.04.2020
Subjects
affect
colorblindness
white nationalism
white supremacy
whiteness
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Summary:This essay adopts a critical rhetorical perspective attuned to affect to investigate white nationalist rhetoric on Stormfront, a popular white nationalist message board. My analysis illuminates how Stormfront attempts to appeal to mainstream white audiences by resisting normative expectations and affects articulated with white supremacy and (re)constructing white nationalism as a formation of white racial consciousness articulated with communal belonging, common sense, and pride. On Stormfront, affect is mobilized discursively to challenge colorblindness, construct rhetorical distance between white nationalism and white supremacy, and strategically negotiate white (dis)comfort with direct discourse on race to compel affective investments in white nationalism.
ISSN:1479-1420
1479-4233
DOI:10.1080/14791420.2020.1745858