Oregon as unspoiled nature: a rhetorical criticism of Oregon's tourism campaign

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Date

1993

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Volume Title

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Texas A&M University

Abstract

Oregon has suffered dislocating economic and industrial shifts for several years. Because logging and fishing provide less economic support for the state, Oregon is looking to alternative industries including tourism. This thesis examines Oregon's tourism campaign, the orientation toward Oregon that it offers, and the invited actions that accompany that orientation. Through an analysis of the metaphors used in both the verbal and visual texts, this paper identifies the orientation offered by the campaign as "Oregon is unspoiled nature. The religious and frontier metaphorical systems which develop this literalized master metaphor are examined along with the actions they invite from visitors to Oregon. Numerous inconsistencies arise between these two metaphorical systems as well as within the master metaphor itself. The consequence of these inconsistencies is that the Oregon Tourism Division (OTD) may ruin the very image and product it is trying to sell. In order to avoid the demise suffered by the logging and fishing industries, OTD must re-evaluate the orientation offered in the materials as well as the role of tourism in the state's economy.

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Includes bibliographical references.

Keywords

speech communication., Major speech communication.

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