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The Rhetoric Of Blame: A Rhetorical Framing Analysis Of Othering And Blame In Historical Health Crises, Colin G. Cameron
The Rhetoric Of Blame: A Rhetorical Framing Analysis Of Othering And Blame In Historical Health Crises, Colin G. Cameron
Master's Theses
The United States’ response to the COVID-19 pandemic was hallmarked by blame rhetoric and fluid social and political expedience. However, the pervasiveness of othering and blame in contemporary pandemic discourse is perhaps consistent with the blame rhetoric of health crises throughout history. Using a rhetorical framing analysis approach, this study aims to explore the various elements of blame rhetoric embedded in newsprint media frames regarding historic infectious disease outbreaks. In doing so, this study investigates three case studies: the San Francisco smallpox outbreak of 1876, the Spanish Flu pandemic of 1918, and the AIDS crisis of the 1980s – 1990s. …