Paddy Scannell lecture: "What's Sincerity Got To Do With It, Anyway?
Tuesday, October 26, 2010
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Paddy Scannell, Ph.D.So often, sincerity is interpreted as a simple and even naive quality, a mannerism reserved for the weak or delicate. Stepping back over half a century, however, and listening in to some of U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s intimate “fireside chats” over the radio, or the “Tokyo Rose” broadcast transmitted by Radio Tokyo; one might define sincerity a little differently.
Paddy Scannell, Ph.D., visiting scholar in the Scholars Program of Culture and Communication at the Annenberg School for Communication and professor at University of Michigan, presented the question of sincerity during a private noontime lecture held at the Annenberg School for Communication last Wednesday, October 20, entitled “How to be Sincere: On Radio.”
Discussing two different radio programs from World War II featuring the American radio star, Kate Smith, and her British doppelganger, Vera Lynn – both famous singers and household names in their countries at the time; Professor Scannell examines the impact of the new technology of radio and what ‘sincerity’ – radio’s defining performance feature – meant and how it was understood at the time.
According to Professor Scannell’s research, sincerity became a structure of the public domain of the media (radio) at large in the 1940s-1950s, not simply a part of everyday private discourse. “Where there was distrust, inherent in our social framework,” said Professor Scannell, “Vera Lynn’s recital of ‘I’m Yours Sincerely’ replaced any doubts of the troops that she sang to might have had at the time, or of those on the home front.” He added that listeners believed Vera Lynn’s words because of her tone and the fact that they considered her “humble, unspoilt, and simple.”
Across the pond, Kate Smith’s honey-smooth voice encouraged listeners to buy war bonds and take her at her word. “The microphone transforms the proxemics of singing and speaking,” explained Professor Scannell. “The personal effect of the voice is the singer speaking to the listener on a personal level. So the question of authentic performance is at the heart of the problem with sincerity in radio and singing.” Analogous to Kate Smith broadcasts, FDR’s “fireside chats” were laden with an inflection that urged listeners to pay attention and have faith in the words being transmitted over the airwaves. Some may attribute the success of such radio shows to charisma, but Professor Scannell ascribes sincerity to the ubiquitous effects of broadcast media.