About Dangerous Crooked Scoundrels: Insulting the President from Past to Present
Presented by Edwin Battistella, Author
In this presentation, author Edwin Battistella discusses his book,
Dangerous Crooked Scoundrels: Insulting the President from Washington
to Trump (Oxford University Press, 2020). Battistella traces the ways
in which presidents have been insulted over the centuries since the founding of
the republic, selecting from over 500 examples he has collected.
Battistella suggests that less has changed than you might think, as far as
insults go. He also looks at the language of the insult itself and the
categories of invective and figures of speech that resonate politically.
And you learn how various chief executives have responded to
attacks.
About the Speaker:
Edwin L. Battistella teaches linguistics and writing at Southern
Oregon University in Ashland, Oregon. He is the author of six books
including Sorry About That: the Language of Public Apology.
Battistella contributes a monthly blog to Oxford
University Press, called Between the Lines with Edwin Battistella. He
also moderates the Literary Ashland blog and twitter feed.