On becoming neighbors : the communication ethics of Fred Rogers

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Title:

On becoming neighbors : the communication ethics of Fred Rogers

Author:

Klarén, Alexandra C. author.

ISBN:

9780822945901

Physical Description:

xi, 332 pages : illustrations ; 22 cm.

Contents:

Situating Rogers's vision: a sociocultural framing -- Creating the dialogic: Christianity, child development, and the parasocial -- Inside Mister Rogers' neighborhood: objects, play, and the cultural dialectic -- "Won't you be my neighbor?": intergenerational dialogics in Neighborhood viewer mail -- Conclusion -- Notes -- Bibliography.

Title Subject:

Mister Rogers' neighborhood (Television program) -- Social aspects.

Mister Rogers' neighborhood (Television program) -- History and criticism.

Subject Term:

Television and children.

Communication -- Ethics.

Summary:

A cultural, ethical, & rhetorical study of Mister Rogers' Neighborhood. --

Holds:

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Library	Call Number	Status
Searching... Hardwood Creek Library (Forest Lake)	791.4572 KLA	Searching... Unknown
Searching... Park Grove Library (Cottage Grove)	791.4572 KLA	Searching... Unknown
Searching... R.H. Stafford Library (Woodbury)	791.4572 KLA	Searching... Unknown

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Summary

Winner, 2020 NCA Top Single-Author Book of the Year Award

Fred Rogers is an American cultural and media icon, whose children's television program, Mister Rogers' Neighborhood, ran for more than thirty years (1967-2001) on the Public Broadcasting System. In this highly original book, communication scholar Alexandra C. Klarén shows how Rogers captured the moral, social, and emotional imaginations of multiple generations of Americans. She explores the nuanced complexity of the thought behind the man and the program, the dialogical integration of his various influences, and the intentional ethic of care behind the creation of a program that spoke to the affective, cultural, and educational needs of children (and adults) during a period of cultural and political upheaval. Richly informed by newly available archival materials, On Becoming Neighbors chronicles the evolution of Rogers' thought on television, children, pedagogy, and the family through a rhetorical, cultural, and ethical lens. Klarén probes how Rogers creates the conditions for dialogue in which participants explore possibilities and questions relating to the social and material world.

Author Notes

Alexandra C. Klarén is assistant professor at the Johns Hopkins Carey Business School.

Reviews (1)

Choice Review

Looking specifically at Rogers' ministerial efforts, Klarén (Johns Hopkins Carey Business School) explores the impact of the beloved "Mr. Rogers" (i.e., the Fred Rogers of Mr. Roger's Neighborhood) on his audience. Focusing on vision, production, and reception, Klarén first situates Rogers' vision in a sociocultural framework, then offers chapters on Christian narratives of child development and parasocial relationships; objects, play, and the cultural dialectic; and the intergenerational dialogues Rogers developed through his Neighborhood viewer mail portion of the program. This well-researched book uses theory about culture to uncover the reasons for Rogers's powerful impact. Particularly revealing for this reviewer was a discussion that references Donald Winnicott's work on an infant's symbolic journey. Fred Rogers has been the subject of many books, recent among them Maxwell King's Good Neighbor: The Life and Work of Fred Rogers (2018), but Klarén is the first to cover the cultural impact of Fred Rogers from a theoretical perspective. This is truly a gem. Summing Up: Highly recommended. All readers. --Kristen L Majocha, California University Of Pennsylvania

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Summary

Summary

Author Notes

Reviews (1)

Choice Review

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