rhetorical analysis of obama's political speeches
Critical Discourse Analysis of Obama's Political Discourse
Juraj Horváth
Abstract
This paper examines the persuasive strategies of President Obama's public speaking as well as the covert ideology of the same, enshrined in his inaugural address. Our analysis is grounded in Norman Fairclough's assumptions in critical discourse analysis, claiming that "ideologies reside in texts" that "it is not possible to 'read off' ideologies from texts" and that "texts are open to diverse interpretations" (Fairclough:
1995).The selected corpus' ideological and persuasive components are assessed, thus revealing Obama's persuasive strategies.
1. Introduction
Politics is a struggle for power in order to put certain political, economic and social ideas into practice. In this process, language plays a crucial role, for every political action is prepared, accompanied, influenced and played by language. This paper analyzes discourse of political speaking, namely the inaugural address of President Barack Obama. Given the enormous domestic and global significance of the said speech in times of international economic turmoil it is crucial to decipher ideological traits typical for Barack Obama’s enshrined in his inaugural address. Inaugural address predestines policies of the newly inaugurated president and its overall significance is enhanced in the case of Obama’s policy of change. The aim of this paper is to examine persuasive strategies of President Barack Obama and its ideological component. 2. Theoretical underpinnings
2.1. Discourse
Discourse, as such, is a broad term with many a definition, which “integrates a whole palette of meanings” (Titscher et.al. 1998: 42), ranging from linguistics, through sociology, philosophy and other disciplines. For the purposes of this paper we apply the definition of discourse, based on van Dijk’s (1977: 3), and his general concept of discourse as text in context, seen as “data that is liable for empiric analysis”
Juraj Horváth
Abstract
This paper examines the persuasive strategies of President Obama's public speaking as well as the covert ideology of the same, enshrined in his inaugural address. Our analysis is grounded in Norman Fairclough's assumptions in critical discourse analysis, claiming that "ideologies reside in texts" that "it is not possible to 'read off' ideologies from texts" and that "texts are open to diverse interpretations" (Fairclough:
1995).The selected corpus' ideological and persuasive components are assessed, thus revealing Obama's persuasive strategies.
1. Introduction
Politics is a struggle for power in order to put certain political, economic and social ideas into practice. In this process, language plays a crucial role, for every political action is prepared, accompanied, influenced and played by language. This paper analyzes discourse of political speaking, namely the inaugural address of President Barack Obama. Given the enormous domestic and global significance of the said speech in times of international economic turmoil it is crucial to decipher ideological traits typical for Barack Obama’s enshrined in his inaugural address. Inaugural address predestines policies of the newly inaugurated president and its overall significance is enhanced in the case of Obama’s policy of change. The aim of this paper is to examine persuasive strategies of President Barack Obama and its ideological component. 2. Theoretical underpinnings
2.1. Discourse
Discourse, as such, is a broad term with many a definition, which “integrates a whole palette of meanings” (Titscher et.al. 1998: 42), ranging from linguistics, through sociology, philosophy and other disciplines. For the purposes of this paper we apply the definition of discourse, based on van Dijk’s (1977: 3), and his general concept of discourse as text in context, seen as “data that is liable for empiric analysis”
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