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Truth value, Trump, and benign lies at the closing of the Gutenberg Parenthesis

ABSTRACT It has been remarked of U.S. President Trump that ‘The press takes him literally, but not seriously; his supporters take him seriously, but not literally’. We examine literality and credibility within a post-Gutenberg context, described as having fewer expectations about the need for literal truth. People who have been shaped by high-literacy practices assume that others similarly value so-called objective sources of information, but people who are oriented to oral communication have views that derive from memory and interpersonal interactions. The differences between these two groups tend to foster mutual miscomprehension about the standing of truth and lies. Literature on the traditional trickster figure is also addressed as helping to account for Trump’s social acceptance. The paper revisits Aristotle on ethos, pathos, and logos, proposing that logos possesses least traction with Trump devotees. Post-Gutenberg, strengthening communicators’ ethos should occur before logos and literality are employed.