Abstract
This article draws out the significant similarities between the political insurgencies of Jesse Ventura in 1999 and Donald Trump in 2016, charting their own premillennial political collaborations as members of the Reform Party, before identifying wider lessons for studies of contemporary celebrity politicians through a comparison of their individual campaigns. Its analysis is based upon the concept of the ‘politainer’, introduced by Conley and Schultz, into which it incorporates Mikhail Bakhtin’s conception of the carnival fool. The heterodox nature of both Ventura and Trump’s political campaign styles, it argues, is in part explained by the nature of the cultural spheres within which their public personas were produced; specifically, the fact that these personas, which they carried over from the entertainment to political spheres, were produced within genres of popular culture generally positioned as having ‘low’ cultural value. This, it argues, furnished both with an anti-establishment ethos as ‘no bullshit’ straight-talkers, marking them as outsider candidates able to act as conduits for political protest by an electorate alienated from mainstream political elites. It concludes by emphasising the potential importance that political celebrities’ specific cultural production can play in shaping a subsequent political campaign in general.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 1-15 |
| Number of pages | 15 |
| Journal | Politics |
| Early online date | 11 Jul 2019 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | E-pub ahead of print - 11 Jul 2019 |
Keywords
- Donald Trump
- Jesse Ventura
- US Politics
- USA Politics
- Celebrity Politics
- Politainer
- Mikhail Bakhtin
- pro-wrestling
- celebrity politics
- politainer
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Political Science and International Relations
Cite this
The Role of Cultural Production in Celebrity Politics: comparing the campaigns of Jesse ‘The Body’ Ventura (1999) and Donald Trump (2016). / Moon, David.
In: Politics, 11.07.2019, p. 1-15.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article
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TY - JOUR
T1 - The Role of Cultural Production in Celebrity Politics:
T2 - comparing the campaigns of Jesse ‘The Body’ Ventura (1999) and Donald Trump (2016)
AU - Moon, David
PY - 2019/7/11
Y1 - 2019/7/11
N2 - This article draws out the significant similarities between the political insurgencies of Jesse Ventura in 1999 and Donald Trump in 2016, charting their own premillennial political collaborations as members of the Reform Party, before identifying wider lessons for studies of contemporary celebrity politicians through a comparison of their individual campaigns. Its analysis is based upon the concept of the ‘politainer’, introduced by Conley and Schultz, into which it incorporates Mikhail Bakhtin’s conception of the carnival fool. The heterodox nature of both Ventura and Trump’s political campaign styles, it argues, is in part explained by the nature of the cultural spheres within which their public personas were produced; specifically, the fact that these personas, which they carried over from the entertainment to political spheres, were produced within genres of popular culture generally positioned as having ‘low’ cultural value. This, it argues, furnished both with an anti-establishment ethos as ‘no bullshit’ straight-talkers, marking them as outsider candidates able to act as conduits for political protest by an electorate alienated from mainstream political elites. It concludes by emphasising the potential importance that political celebrities’ specific cultural production can play in shaping a subsequent political campaign in general.
AB - This article draws out the significant similarities between the political insurgencies of Jesse Ventura in 1999 and Donald Trump in 2016, charting their own premillennial political collaborations as members of the Reform Party, before identifying wider lessons for studies of contemporary celebrity politicians through a comparison of their individual campaigns. Its analysis is based upon the concept of the ‘politainer’, introduced by Conley and Schultz, into which it incorporates Mikhail Bakhtin’s conception of the carnival fool. The heterodox nature of both Ventura and Trump’s political campaign styles, it argues, is in part explained by the nature of the cultural spheres within which their public personas were produced; specifically, the fact that these personas, which they carried over from the entertainment to political spheres, were produced within genres of popular culture generally positioned as having ‘low’ cultural value. This, it argues, furnished both with an anti-establishment ethos as ‘no bullshit’ straight-talkers, marking them as outsider candidates able to act as conduits for political protest by an electorate alienated from mainstream political elites. It concludes by emphasising the potential importance that political celebrities’ specific cultural production can play in shaping a subsequent political campaign in general.
KW - Donald Trump
KW - Jesse Ventura
KW - US Politics
KW - USA Politics
KW - Celebrity Politics
KW - Politainer
KW - Mikhail Bakhtin
KW - pro-wrestling
KW - celebrity politics
KW - politainer
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85068895902&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1177/0263395719862446
DO - 10.1177/0263395719862446
M3 - Article
SP - 1
EP - 15
JO - Politics
JF - Politics
SN - 0263-3957
ER -