Idea of Identification

Gary C. Woodward is Professor of Communication Studies at The College of New Jersey. He is the author of Perspectives on American Political Media; Persuasive Encounters: Case Studies in Constructive Confrontation; and coauthor (with Robert E. Denton Jr.) of Political Communication in America; and Persuasion and Influence in American Life.

"Woodward's description of the conceptual history of identification is concise, his illustrations of identification in action are engaging, and his speculations about the role of identification in our contemporary culture are good initial points for continued discussion on this fundamental rhetorical element." — The Southern Communication Journal"Gary C. Woodward's The Idea of Identification promises a fresh examination of identification that moves beyond Burke's work to interrogate aspects of the concept previously overlooked and underdeveloped." — Argumentation and Advocacy"The book captures the basic idea behind the concept of identification, and then shows how it is central to multiple disciplines and indeed to the humanistic impulse itself. The concept's application and relevance to a wide range of human activities is masterfully explicated here. This book is a pleasure to read." — Vanessa B. Beasley, Southern Methodist University

• Preface 1. Origins of an Idea 2. Conceptualizing Identification: Extensions of a Burkean View 3. Identification, Celebrity, and the Hollywood Film 4. Serenades to the Resistant: Successful Uses of Identification 5. Misidentification and Its Sources 6. Identification and Commitment in Civic Culture Notes Index