“A Death in the American Family”: Myth,Memory,and National Values in the Media Mourning of John F. Kennedy Jr.

Abstract

This article provides narrative and rhetorical analysis—considering structure, language, and emphases in content and presentation—of journalistic coverage of the 1999 death and funeral of John F. Kennedy Jr. It contends that, because of JFK Jr.'s particular symbolic role in the Kennedy story, journalists explained his significance in terms of cultural and mythic themes, including family and nation, tragedy and hope, and sacrifice and redemption. The evidence comes primarily from newsmagazines, which have played a key role in the construction of “the Kennedy myth” for forty years.