After Empire

This book probes the mythic underpinnings of U.S. war culture, asking how myth can be reconfigured to foster a discourse more conducive to a culture of peace. It breaks with an imperial mindset of endless warfare and places myth’s creative potential into productive relationship with rhetoric’s democratic vocation to foster an attitude of tolerance and interdependence and resist the violence of alienation. Drawing on the archetype of coyote and manifestations of a people’s better angels, the book examines both the resistance of imperial orthodoxy to critique and susceptibility to cultural change. It locates Barack Obama’s presidency and rhetorical juggling at the threshold of a shifting hemispheric consciousness and explores the prophetic voice of veterans opposed to war, a voice that prefigures the possibility of conversion to a culture of peace. The book culminates in consideration of democracy’s renewal by means of rhetorically adept dissent to enable deliberation amidst conflict.

“After Empire offers both an analysis of contemporary US war culture and an intervention into it in the hope of making the US a healthier democracy. Focusing on the intersection of politics, popular culture, and myth, and deftly integrating theory, method, and substantive content, Ivie and Giner provide a map of the current US public sphere in ways that will interest academics as well as practitioners and prove useful for courses in rhetoric, history, and political science.” —Mary E. Stuckey, Edwin Erle Sparks Professor of Communication Arts & Sciences, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, “In After Empire: Myth, Rhetoric, and Democratic Revival, Robert L. Ivie and Oscar Giner unpack the way that contemporary American myths of war have played a role in legitimizing war and creating an American empire built around a militarized society. They show that creation of an alternative mythology privileging dissent is essential to rebuilding American democracy. The book is cogently argued, based on ground-breaking research on myth and militarism, and a genuine pleasure to read!” —Robert C. Rowland Professor, Department of Communication Studies, University of Kansas, After Empire offers both an analysis of contemporary US war culture and an intervention into it in the hope of making the US a healthier democracy. Focusing on the intersection of politics, popular culture, and myth, and deftly integrating theory, method, and substantive content, Ivie and Giner provide a map of the current US public sphere in ways that will interest academics as well as practitioners and prove useful for courses in rhetoric, history, and political science. Mary E. Stuckey, Edwin Erle Sparks Professor of Communication Arts & Sciences, Pennsylvania State University, University Park

Robert L. Ivie is Professor Emeritus in English (Rhetoric) and American Studies at Indiana University, Bloomington. His writing on political rhetoric, war culture, and democratic discourse includes Hunt the Devil: A Demonology of US War Culture (2015) with Oscar Giner, Dissent from War (2007), and Democracy and America’s War on Terror (2005).Oscar Giner, Professor of Theatre at Arizona State University, focusing on myth and ritual in the Spanish religious stage and Native American performances, has contributed to Rhetoric, Materiality and Politics (2009) and Sourcebook for Political Communication Research (2011) and coauthored Hunt the Devil: A Demonology of US War Culture (2015).