  We compute and analyze correlation functions in the isovector vector channel
at vanishing spatial momentum across the deconfinement phase transition in
lattice QCD. The simulations are carried out at temperatures $T/T_c=0.156, 0.8,
1.0, 1.25$ and $1.67$ with $T_c\simeq203$MeV for two flavors of Wilson-Clover
fermions with a zero-temperature pion mass of $\simeq270$MeV. Exploiting exact
sum rules and applying a phenomenologically motivated ansatz allows us to
determine the spectral function $\rho(\omega,T)$ via a fit to the lattice
correlation function data. From these results we estimate the electrical
conductivity across the deconfinement phase transition via a Kubo formula and
find evidence for the dissociation of the $\rho$ meson by resolving its
spectral weight at the available temperatures. We also apply the Backus-Gilbert
method as a model-independent approach to this problem. At any given frequency,
it yields a local weighted average of the true spectral function. We use this
method to compare kinetic theory predictions and previously published
phenomenological spectral functions to our lattice study.
