Post-Weird

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Post-Weird is written by Calum Lister Matheson and published by Rutgers University Press. It's available with International Standard Book Number or ISBN identification 1978840187 (ISBN 10) and 9781978840188 (ISBN 13).

Post-Weird: Fragmentation, Community, and the Decline of the Mainstream is an ambitious look at how communities form when old forms of authority and meaning seem to be collapsing around us. This book goes beyond the fraying of contemporary American culture to ask how communities that used to be considered “fringe,” for better or worse, come together. Dr. Matheson examines far-flung groups from Appalachian serpent-handling churches to Sandy Hook conspiracy theorists, pro-anorexia Internet forums to reactionary pseudoscientists, finding consistent parallels amidst their diversity. The key trend he identifies is anti-rhetorical discourse: the insistence that the symbols shared by each community represent a hidden truth that cannot be questioned or interpreted but is revealed through signs—words, images, videos, and texts. Against these rigid worldviews, Dr. Matheson calls for a revival of the art of rhetoric, not just as a set of techniques, but as a creative, curious orientation towards the world in all of its ambiguity and uncertainty.