Mythmaking from the Fringe to the Center: The Appropriation of Barack Obama in an Emergent UFO- Based Religious Movement and in Mainstream American Culture

Author

Kenneth Paul Smith, Georgia State UniversityFollow

Date of Award

4-15-2010

Degree Type

Closed Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Arts (MA)

Department

Religious Studies

First Advisor

Kathryn McClymond - Committee Chair

Second Advisor

Gary Laderman - Committee Member

Third Advisor

Jonathan Herman - Committee Member

Abstract

In this essay, I examine the ways in which new myths were made of Barack Obama in the months leading up to, and immediately following, the 2008 U.S. Presidential Election at three sites of cultural production: a UFO-based religious movement historically grounded in the black Israelite religious tradition, TIME magazine’s 2008 “Person of the Year” edition, and Sean Hannity’s “The Real Barack Obama” airing on the FOX News network. I argue that, while the content of these three Obama-myths varies considerable, the ways in which these myths are constructed, and function, are in fact rather similar.

DOI

https://doi.org/10.57709/1331274

Recommended Citation

Smith, Kenneth Paul, "Mythmaking from the Fringe to the Center: The Appropriation of Barack Obama in an Emergent UFO- Based Religious Movement and in Mainstream American Culture." Thesis, Georgia State University, 2010.
doi: https://doi.org/10.57709/1331274