Focusing on new-journalistic nonfiction novels by Truman Capote, Norman Mailer, and John Hersey, this dissertation conceptualizes the discursive practices of news-storytelling as a necessary matrix of storytelling and truthtelling activities. Despite the dominant postmodern emphasis on storytelling over truthtelling in such disciplines as literature, historiography, journalism, and legal studies, storytelling-in-the-discipline is also constrained by a set of assumptions and practices about what constitutes professional storytelling. Since news-stories report on events in a public arena where numerous competing stories abound, they are highly aware of other neighboring stories and so relate, compete, and negotiate with other stories to make their stories not merely repetitive but argumentative and re-tellable. As a socially regulated and conditioned discourse, news-storytelling in its enterprise is predicated upon different sets of discursive authorities, material conditions, and audience expectations, where various facts and interpretations are argued, tested, and judged. Chapter I briefly surveys the ways in which news-stories’ claim to referentiality is problematized and even stigmatized by the postmodern ethos of storytelling. Chapter II then explores the discursive dynamics of newsstories, which arise from the paradoxical status of being simultaneously news and a story. Particularly, this chapter highlights the discursive practice of “source marking” and “counter-storytelling” through which news-storytellers foreground their reliability as able researchers, analysts, and contenders. Chapter III discusses the issue of (inter-) textuality in the vectors of storyteller and the world, and examines how news-storytellers draw on, blend into, and counter competing and neighboring stories to situate their own stories in the web of intertextuality and to reinforce the competency, honesty, and quality of their news-stories. Chapter IV is a historical examination of a “transcript” mode, a particular discursive practice of news-storytellers, through which they try to uphold the empirical status of their news-stories. Chapter V concludes the dissertation by arguing that news-stories provide a clarifying vantage point from which to understand the transactions of historical discourse, where newsstorytelling replaces (story) knowledge with argument, poetics with rhetoric, and a story with a discourse.

Writing is critical to two main anthropological goals: to communicate useful knowledge about humanity and society; and to stimulate interest, discussion, and action on issues that are of societal import. To achieve these goals anthropologists must write in accessible styles for diverse audiences. In this paper, we review the work of five popular nonfiction writers to determine the extent to which their approachable writing styles are compatible with anthropological rigor and nuance. While none of these authors meets all of our hopes for anthropological analysis, each does manage to blend some elements of scholarship with a readable style. We therefore highlight some of their stylistic approaches in the hope that these might help anthropologists engage more effectively in public debate.

Denna uppsats berör den populära podcasten Serial och den kritik som har riktats mot serien av flertalet journalister både i Sverige och utomlands. Uppsatsen ställer sig frågan vad det är med Serials berättargrepp som har utlöst denna upprördhet inom delar av journalistkåren, bland annat gällande reportern Sarah Koenigs framträdande roll i serien, och undersöker hur serien förhåller sig till den traditionella nyhetsjournalistikens grundprinciper. Uppsatsen drar även paralleller till den litterära journalistiken eftersom delar av kritiken mot Serial påminner om den kritik som riktades mot genren då den slog igenom på 60-talet. Studien av Serial, som bygger på en narrativ analys av materialet, har fokuserats kring hur reportern Sarah Koenigs berättande är utformat. Detta eftersom syftet med uppsatsen är att identifiera huruvida det finns belägg för kritiken som serien tagit emot, och som främst är riktad mot Sarah Koenigs berättargrepp. Utifrån de fynd som görs i analysen dras slutsatsen att det går att identifiera problematiska inslag i serien, framförallt gällande bristen på motiv, men att Serial inte nödvändigtvis behöver dömas ut som ett journalistiskt misslyckande. Istället argumenterar uppsatsen för att Serial snarare bör betraktas som en stapplande stilbildare inom det ännu unga och oreglerade podcast-formatet.

<p>The aim of this thesis is to establish whether In Cold Blood could be considered to be the true account Truman Capote intended it to be. Capote spent many years researching the murder in Kansas with the aim of writing a news story in the style of fiction. Even so, this essay argues that it is not a completely true account. In order to reach a conclusion this essay studies the concept of new journalism and answers the following questions:</p><p>•What are the problems of depicting reality in writing?</p><p>•What narrative techniques are found in In Cold Blood?</p><p>•Is In Cold Blood subjective or objective in its portrayal of the story and its characters?</p><p>The conclusion also shows that In Cold Blood is too manipulated and subjective in order to be seen as a completely true account that can be read as a news story. It is merely one view of the murder and In Cold Blood is therefore best read as a fiction novel.</p>

abstract: El presente estudio examina cuatro ensayistas periodistas latinoamericanas, Patricia Verdugo de Chile, Viviana Gorbato de la Argentina, Alma Guillermoprieto de México y Zoé Valdés de Cuba, para entender cómo cada autora transcribe sus investigaciones en el campo en forma narrativa. A través de un examen del uso del procedimiento de la entrevista, analizamos cómo todas estas periodistas de investigación utilizan el testimonio de sus personajes para crear historias que intentan, por un lado, reportar sobre temas culturales de manera objetiva, y por otra parte, captar las emociones de los que viven y que son testigos a los eventos de sus ensayos. Implementamos, por consiguiente, las estrategias discursivas del nuevo periodismo, las cuales proporcionan una manera de diseccionar la estructura de los textos. Al entender la forma de los ensayos en vinculación con probar la importancia del testimonio respecto al elemento emocional, se provoca una búsqueda de lo que significa cada obra. Debido al gran empleo del testimonio, se encuentra con una pluralidad de voces que en su conjunto tienen un mayor propósito: representar una comunidad con una causa pertinente. En el proceso de presentar su causa, se evidencia una posible conexión entre los textos y el género híbrido de la novela testimonial. Finalmente, al considerar el peligro de ser periodista en América Latina, hacemos hincapié en la importancia de esta labor literaria y la gran cantidad de mujeres de esta región mundial que corren tanto riesgo para facilitar a sus lectores esta diversidad de temas culturales. / Dissertation/Thesis / Ph.D. Spanish 2012

[pt] O presente trabalho consiste em uma reflexão sobre a objetividade jornalística, ideia tão cara aos profissionais da área, mas que vem, ao longo dos anos, provocando diversos questionamentos. Nosso objeto de estudo é o Gonzo, estilo iniciado nos Estados Unidos na década de 60, após diversas mudanças dentro do paradigma da objetividade, não só dentro do campo do jornalismo, mas em diversas áreas. Será realizada a análise de trabalhos jornalísticos supostamente gonzo, escritos por um jornalista brasileiro, em uma revista publicada atualmente, a fim de compreender melhor como o legado gonzo pode ser relido e reformulado. / [en] This study proposes a reflection on journalistic objectivity, a rather dear concept to the professionals of that field, but which has been triggering several questions over the years. Our object of study is Gonzo journalism, a style started in the United States in the 1960 s after many changes within the paradigm of objectivity, not only in journalism, but also in other fields. The purpose of this study is to analyze supposedly gonzo articles written by a Brazilian journalist in a currently published magazine, in order to understand how the gonzo legacy can be reinterpreted and reshaped.

An examination of Hunter S. Thompson's writing with the goal of defining gonzo journalism as a distinct entity from New Journalism. This is achieved via a rhetorical analysis of Thompson's writing, highlighting influences from literary figures such as Cervantes, Chaucer, Dos Passos, and Swift. / Master of Arts

A argumentação da presente tese parte do New Journalism como plataforma para discussões sobre a linguagem jornalística. A Contracultura enquanto fenômeno político serve de enquadramento histórico sobre o qual se trabalha a noção de uma política antidisciplinar como recurso de enfrentamento às inscrições da imprensa sobre o plano da reprodução das ideologias hegemônicas. / The following thesis is an argumentation about the New Journalism as a plataform for the discutions envolving the ordinary journalistic language. The Counterculture is taken as a politic event featuring the historic plan wich is discussed by the anti-disciplinary protest. This notion is taken as a estrategy to resist against the passive hegemonic ideological reproduction.

This exegesis examines how a writer can effectively negotiate the relationship between author, character, fact and truth, in a work of Creative Nonfiction. It was found that individual truths, in a work of Creative Nonfiction, are not necessarily universal truths due to individual, cultural, historical and religious circumstances. What was also identified, through the examination of published Creative Nonfiction, is a necessity to ensure there are clear demarcation lines between authorial truth and fiction. The Creative Nonfiction works examined, which established this framework for the reader, ensured an ethical relationship between author and audience. These strategies and frameworks were then applied to my own Creative Nonfiction.

A argumentação da presente tese parte do New Journalism como plataforma para discussões sobre a linguagem jornalística. A Contracultura enquanto fenômeno político serve de enquadramento histórico sobre o qual se trabalha a noção de uma política antidisciplinar como recurso de enfrentamento às inscrições da imprensa sobre o plano da reprodução das ideologias hegemônicas. / The following thesis is an argumentation about the New Journalism as a plataform for the discutions envolving the ordinary journalistic language. The Counterculture is taken as a politic event featuring the historic plan wich is discussed by the anti-disciplinary protest. This notion is taken as a estrategy to resist against the passive hegemonic ideological reproduction.