The reluctant sovereign
New adventures of the US presidential Thanksgiving turkey
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 2265281 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Magnus Fiskesjö (Cornell University, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2010 |
| Volume | 26 |
| Issue | 5 |
| Pages | 13-17 |
| Publication date | 2010-10-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Anthropology Today (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0268-540X • E-ISSN: 1467-8322 |
| Publisher | Wiley (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1111/j.1467-8322.2010.00757.x |
| OpenAlex | W2013447757 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 6 |
| References cited | 8 |
This article revisits the annual US presidential ritual of pardoning a Thanksgiving turkey, and explores the changes made to the procedures since 2003, when the author's Prickly Paradigm pamphlet on the issue was published. This includes such curious developments as the turkey being retired to Disneyland in Florida instead of a nearby petting zoo; the presidential contender Sarah Palin's attempt at pardoning her own turkey, a PR disaster with a twist; the new Virginia-based movement to pardon a pig instead of a turkey; and President Obama's apparent reluctance in face of the ceremony - by now a spectacle so firmly implanted in US political life that it can no longer be dislodged. An extended interpretation is offered for just how all these developments relate to the deep-seated American ambivalence towards the place of Native Americans in the nation's history, as well as towards the position of the US as a military superpower
Adventure · Ambivalence · Art history · Cartography · Ceremony · Economic history · Face (sociological concept · Geography · Interpretation (philosophy · Political economy · Political science · Politics · Presidential system · Psychoanalysis · Rivalry · Social science · Sociology · Spectacle · Summit · Superpower · American Constitutional Law and Politics · Anthropology: Ethics, History, Culture · Historical Studies of British Isles · History · Law · Philosophy · Psychology
| Unique citing works | 6 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 0,43 |
| Citation span | 2012 - 2025 (14) |
| Citation velocity | recent |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 6 |