The dark arts of good people

How popular culture negotiates 'spin' in NBC's The West Wing1

Bibliographic Data

ID3608767
AuthorsKay Richardson (0000-0002-3805-5803, University of Liverpool, corresponding author)
Year2006
Volume10
Issue1
Pages52-69
Publication date2006-02-01
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueJournal of Sociolinguistics (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1360-6441 • E-ISSN: 1467-9841
PublisherWiley (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1111/j.1360-6441.2006.00317.x
OpenAlexW1988905757
LanguageEN
Citations received5
References cited12

This paper argues that the popular American TV series The West Wing provides, within popular culture, a sympathetic and realistic view of the work of the political 'spin doctor'. This enterprise is sociolinguistically interesting because of the extensive range of metalinguistic and metacommunicative reflection which it involves. The West Wing centres its storytelling within the world of the spin doctor, thus making such characters central to the narrative: further, it constructs them as likeable, virtuous characters who are also clever. Their cleverness is a matter of sociolinguistic performance expressed in dialogue which displays their professional writing craft skills and their spontaneous witty badinage

Aesthetics · Art · Craft · Literature · Media studies · Narrative · Popular culture · Sociology · Storytelling · Visual arts · Discourse Analysis in Language Studies · History · Language, Discourse, Communication Strategies · Media Studies and Communication

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