The Persistence of Red Scare in Contemporary American Society

master's thesis

• Author: Sara Klobučar
• Mentor: Hrvoje Tutek (mentor)
• Mentor: Željka Matijašević (komentor)
• Committee member: Maša Grdešić (predsjednik povjerenstva)
• Committee member: Željka Matijašević (član povjerenstva)
• Committee member: Hrvoje Tutek (član povjerenstva)
• Granter: University of Zagreb; Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences; (Department of English language and literature); Zagreb
• Granter: University of Zagreb; Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences; (Department of Comparative literature); Zagreb
• Defense date and country: 2023-10-13, Croatia
• Scientific / art field, discipline and subdiscipline: HUMANISTIC SCIENCES; Interdisciplinary Humanistic Studies

Abstract

This paper will consider the stubborn presence of anti-communist tendencies and the paranoid fear (as described by Richard Hofstadter) of leftist ideologies in the American society and beyond it since the Bolshevik Revolution until today. The evolution of these tendencies will be contextualized through three different stages of the phenomenon known as the “Red Scare”; starting from the years after the Russian Revolution, to cultural Marxism and its proponents, and lastly, focusing on the analysis of the contemporary legacy of the prior two stages as embodied in Jordan Peterson’s term of ‘postmodern neo-Marxism’. Namely, the focus will primarily rely on the analysis of the contemporary American discourse around the topics of Marxism, postmodernism, identity politics and its most popular contenders ranging from academic professors and public intellectuals such as Peterson to various American politicians. The analysis will try to uncover the connection between these public figures and their paranoid style of anti-communist discourse (again as defined by Hofstadter), and the contemporary leftist response surrounding the issues. Methods of analysis will include the perspectives of cultural studies including critical discourse analysis, psychoanalysis and “Ideologiekritik”.

• Keywords: Red Scare; cultural Marxism; postmodernism; paranoia; Jordan Peterson; postmodern neo-Marxism
• Language: english
• URN:NBN: urn:nbn:hr:131:626272
• Study programme: Title: English Language and Literature (double major); specializations in: Linguistics, Literature and Culture, Translation, TEFL; Course: Literature and Culture; Study programme type: university; Study level: graduate; Academic / professional title: magistar/magistra engleskog jezika i književnosti (magistar/magistra engleskog jezika i književnosti)
• Study programme: Title: Comparative Literature (double major); Study programme type: university; Study level: graduate; Academic / professional title: magistar/magistra komparativne književnosti (magistar/magistra komparativne književnosti)
• Type of resource: Text
• File origin: Born digital
• Access conditions: Open access
• Created on: 2023-10-14 17:23:19