Date of Award
Spring 5-2017
Degree Type
Honors College Thesis
Department
Communication Studies
First Advisor
Wendy Atkins-Sayre
Advisor Department
Communication Studies
Abstract
Establishing an identity is inherent to all individuals and communities. Sometimes creating an identity must be taken a step further by reconstructing a pre-existing identity in exchange for a more favorable one. Spain is currently undergoing a process to reconstruct part of their identity from being a nation with a lazy culture to one that is more progressive. Some Spanish rhetoricians perceive the best way to change Spain’s identity is to eliminate the tradition of siesta time. This study examines the rhetoric that agents utilize in order to create an audience that will help to rhetorically construct Spain’s new identity. By employing constitutive rhetoric as a theoretical lens, this study will analyze the existing rhetorical methods within the texts. The aim of this study is to show the appeals rhetoricians have used to conjure “the people” (the audience) to either challenge or maintain Spain’s current identity in the wake of the larger “group” (the global community). Consequently, this study contributes to the fields of communication studies and Spanish studies by giving insight into how people desire to escape from undesirable stereotypes and the ways in which an audience can be called into action to establish or challenge an identity.
Copyright
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Recommended Citation
Taylor, Lakelyn, "Somos España: Building a New Spanish Identity" (2017). Honors Theses. 483.
https://aquila.usm.edu/honors_theses/483