Mapping the Rhetoric of the Grateful Dead Community

This thesis examines the rhetoric that binds the Grateful Dead Community, a collective of millions who participate in the musical rituals surrounding the San Francisco-based band. The study analyzes multiple rhetorical spaces found within the Grateful Dead Community, the way in which the community hierarchy influences discourse, and the patterns in rhetoric found within the discourse in the community’s spaces. Through analysis of the lyrics, interviews with community leaders, and interactions among community members, the thesis uses the Grateful Dead Community as a foundation for exploring the function of rhetoric in community building and how different, sometimes contradictory types of rhetoric can bind communities—especially communities that exist without geographically-defined territory. This essay aims to fill a research gap by taking already existing theories on conflicting forms of rhetoric within communities and fortifying them by applying them to a modern context, specifically with the Grateful Dead Community.