Edward Schiappa

Can one TV show make a difference? Will & Grace and the parasocial contact hypothesis

Abstract Television has an opportunity to influence beliefs about groups with which individuals typically may have little direct social contact. This study describes a synthesis of the Contact Hypothesis and the concept of Parasocial Interaction to pose what we call the Parasocial Contact Hypothesis to test whether exposure to gay men on Will & Grace can influence attitudes toward gay men in general. Based on a study of 245 university students, this study examines the relationships among number and intimacy of gay social contacts, parasocial interaction, viewing frequency of Will & Grace, and scores on Hereks Attitudes Toward Gay Men and Lesbians scale. Increased viewing frequency and parasocial interaction were found to correlate with lower levels of sexual prejudice-a relationship that was most pronounced for those with the least amount of social contact with lesbians and gay men.

Listening to Audiences: A Brief Rationale and History of Audience Research in Popular Media Studies.

Abstract Popular media may be described as television, film, radio, and print media primarily offered for the purpose of entertainment. Such popular media have been the object of critical analysis for decades, both for academic scholars and popular pundits. Our focus is not on quantitative or experimental research concerning popular media effects, but instead on qualitative scholarship that seeks to interpret and critically engage such media. For the past several decades, scholarship informed only by the critics analysis of the so-called texts of popular media has been augmented by scholarship that recognizes the need to listen to audience members. The point of this article is to provide a brief rationale and history of such audience research.

Gorgias's Helen revisited

Gorgiass Helen has earned a central place in the revival of interest in sophistic and neo‐sophistic rhetorical studies in the late twentieth century. This essay offers a “predisciplinary” historical analysis of the text and makes five arguments: 1) Identifying Gorgias’ Helen as an “epideictic” speech is a somewhat misleading characterization; 2) The speech is not a veiled defense of the Art of Rhetoric; 3) Gorgias may have inaugurated the prose genre of encomia; 4) Gorgias advanced fifth‐century BCE “rationalism” by enacting certain innovations in prose composition; 5) The Helens most significant “theoretical” contribution is to offer a secular account of the workings of logos— an account that functions as an exemplar for later theorists.

Gorgias’ “undeclared” theory of arrangement: A postscript to Smeltzer

In a recent essay, Mark A. Smeltzer finds in Gorgias’ speeches a theory of arrangement that has two components: a four‐part division of the speech as a whole and a three‐step pattern of individual argument construction. In response we argue: 1) the four‐part division is not apparent in Gorgias’ speeches; 2) the three‐step pattern is characteristic of “ring composition” rather than an explicit theory of composition; 3) recognizable patterns of composition do not constitute proof of a theory at work; and 4) writing about the history of rhetoric would be enhanced by recognizing the concept of an “undeclared” theory.