Ring out freedom! : the voice of Martin Luther King, Jr. and the making of the civil rights movement / Fredrik Sunnemark.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Sunnemark, Fredrik.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

King, Martin Luther, Jr., 1929-1968--Language.

King, Martin Luther.

King, Martin Luther, Jr., 1929-1968--Oratory.

King, Martin Luther, Jr., 1929-1968--Political and social views.

King, Martin Luther, Jr., 1929-1968.

Rhetoric--Political aspects--United States--History--20th century.

Rhetoric.

Rhetoric--Political aspects.

Political and social views.

Oratory.

United States.

History.

English language--Discourse analysis.

English language.

English language--United States--Rhetoric.

Speeches, addresses, etc., American--History and criticism.

Speeches, addresses, etc., American.

Civil rights movements--United States--History--20th century.

Civil rights movements.

African Americans--Civil rights--History--20th century.

African Americans.

African Americans--Civil rights.

Physical Description:

x, 273 pages ; 24 cm

Place of Publication:

Bloomington : Indiana University Press, [2004]

Summary:

Martin Luther King, Jr. was more than the civil rights movement's most visible figure, he was its voice. This book describes what went into the creation of that voice. It explores how King used words to define a movement. From a place situated between two cultures of American society. King shaped the language that gave the movement its identity and meaning. Fredrik Sunnemark shows how materialistic, idealistic, and religious ways of explaining the world coexisted in King's speeches and writings. He points out the roles of God, Jesus, the church, and "the Beloved Community" in King's rhetoric. Sunnemark examines King's use of allusions, his strategy of employing different meanings of key ideas to speak to different members of his audience, and the way he put into play international ideas and events to achieve certain rhetorical goals. The book concludes with an analysis of King's development after 1965, examining the roots, content, and consequences of his so-called radicalization.

Contents:

"There must be somebody to communicate..."

A discourse of faith

Western intellectualism and American ideals

The problem of race

Third World, Cold War, and Vietnam

Radicalization.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 257-264) and index.

ISBN:

0253343763

0253216591

OCLC:

52464939