Retorika američkih političara

This MA thesis deals with the relationship between language and politics. Language is the primary human means of communication. It is also incorporated in social relations, which is where power relations and politics come into question. The main premise of this MA thesis, which was presented in its theoretical part, was that the language used by politicians in their political speeches is not only a means of political agenda, but also a result of it, i.e. that there is a close relation between politicians’ linguistic choices and their desired impacts. To prove the thesis of the theoretical part of this paper, a corpus of twenty political speeches (ten given by George W. Bush and ten by Barack Obama) was analyzed in order to identify and examine the rhetorical devices used by politicians in general, and George W. Bush and Barack Obama, respectively. The results of the analyses have shown that their linguistic choices were highly related to their desired power relations, as well as with the policies which these politicians promoted.Ovaj diplomski rad se bavi odnosom između jezika i politike. Jezik je primarno sredstvo ljudske komunikacije. Također je sastavni dio društvenih odnosa, gdje dolazi u pitanje odnos moći i politike. Glavna premisa ovog rada, koja je prezentirana u teorijskom dijelu, bila je da jezik koji političari koriste u svojim govorima nije samo sredstvo političkog programa, već i njegov rezultat; tj. da je odnos između jezičnih izbora političara i njihovih željenih učinaka vrlo blizak. Kako bi se dokazala teza predstavljena u teorijskom dijelu ovoga rada, korpus od dvadeset političkih govora (deset Georgea W. Busha i deset Baracka Obame) je analiziran kako bi se identificirali i istražili retorička sredstva političara uopće, ali i Georgea W. Busha i Baracka Obame zasebno. Rezultati analize pokazali su da su njihovi jezični izbori vrlo povezani s njihovim željenim odnosima moći, kao i politikom koju su ovi političari zastupali

A corpus-based discourse analysis of Ursula von der Leyen’s political speeches

This thesis aims at exploring Ursula von der Leyen's communication strategies by relying on discourse analysis and corpus linguistics. To this end, a corpus was collected which includes President von der Leyen's political speeches from the first time she delivered as President of the European Commission to the 31st December 2021. The analysis describes how politicians can use and manipulate language by resorting to specific strategies which allow them to persuade their audience

Propaganda : perspectiva linguística e de corpora de uma força poderosa

Mestrado em Estudos InglesesA presente dissertação analisa algumas das Técnicas de Propaganda mais comuns usadas no Discurso Político. O caso da “Guerra ao Terrorismo”, tal como foi definida por George W. Bush Presidente dos Estados Unidos da América, foi escolhido para ilustrar as mesmas. Os discursos serão examinados qualitativa e quantitativamente através de técnicas de Corpora Linguísticos Informatizados e uma comparação com Hitler será feita. A Dissertação apresenta o contexto de ocorrência dos discursos, uma enumeração de algumas das Técnicas de Propagandas mais recorrentes e uma análise detalhada dos factos mencionados anteriormente. Pretendo demonstrar com “casos reais e análises detalhadas” alguns dos aspectos mais ocultos dos Discursos Políticos e as sua intenções “manipuladoras”. ABSTRACT: The following dissertation analyzes some of the most common Propaganda Devices used in political speech. The example of the War on Terrorism was chosen to illustrate these as defined by George W. Bush, President of the United States of America’s administration. The speeches will be examined both qualitatively and quantitatively through examining computer corpora and a comparison will be made with the speeches of Hitler. The dissertation presents the context in which those speeches happened, an enumeration of some of the most common propaganda techniques and a detailed analysis of the facts previously mentioned. I want to show with real cases and detailed analyses, some of the most hidden aspects of political speech and its “manipulative” intentions

Promocijas darbs

Elektroniskā versija nesatur pielikumusPromocijas darba “Nacionālās identitātes veidošana un atspoguļojums Baltijas valstu prezidentu runās – korpusā balstīta kritiskā diskursa analīze” mērķis ir izpētīt, kā Baltijas valstu prezidentu runās atspoguļojas nacionālās identitātes diskursīvās konstrukcijas, proti, kādi valodas un diskursa makro- un mikrostruk-tūru elementi ir lietoti prezidentu retorikā, kādas ir to funkcijas un potenciālā ietekme uz runas mērķauditoriju. Izmantojot kvalitatīvo un kvantitatīvo metožu sinerģiju jeb korpusu pieeju un kritiskās diskursa analīzes vēsturisko pieeju, pētījumā veikta ne vien detalizēta runu satura, tematisko lauku, diskursīvo stratēģiju un lingvistisko paņēmienu analīze, bet arī analizēti korpusos balstītie statistiskie dati, kas palīdz detalizētāk izprast katra prezidenta lingvistisko pro-filu un lingvistisko paņēmienu izvēli. Veiktā komponentu analīze apliecina katra prezidenta multiplo identitāšu lingvistiskās iezīmes. Papildus veikta teorētisko avotu izpēte par pētījumā iekļautajiem aktuālajiem tematiem, kas veido prezi-dentu runu sociālpolitisko un vēsturisko kontekstu; pētījumā ir veiktas intervijas ar prezidentiem un prezidentu padomniekiem; savukārt, lai noskaidrotu pre-zidentu runu eksplicītos un implicītos mērķus un arī to potenciālo ietekmi uz klausītāju nacionālās identitātes veidošanu, darbā veiktas un apkopotas Latvijas iedzīvotāju viedokļu aptaujas.Atslēgvārdi: prezidentu runas, Baltijas valstis, nacionālā identitāte, kritiskās diskursa studijas, korpuslingvistikaThe goal of the dissertation ‘Construction and Representation of National Identity in the Speeches of the Presidents of the Baltic States: Corpus-Assisted Critical Discourse Analysis’ is to investigate the discursive construction of national identities in the presidential speeches of the Baltic States as well as their functions and potential impact on the target audience. By applying the synergy of qualitative and quantitative methods – corpus approach and the Discourse-Historical Approach to Critical Discourse Analysis, the study not only analyses the content of the speeches, including their thematic areas, discursive strategies, and linguistic means of realisation of these strategies but also provides statistical data and presents the analysis of the corpus data offering a detailed and objective insight into the individual linguistic profiles of the Presidents, their lexical choices, which point to the linguistic features of multiple identities constructed in the speeches. Additionally, the theoretical sources that pertain to understanding the socio-political and historical context influencing the content of the selected speeches have also been analysed, and interviews with the Presidents and their advisors, as well as opinion surveys with the target audience have been conducted to investigate the explicit and implicit goals of the speeches as well as their potential effect.Key words: presidential speeches, Baltic States, national identity, Critical Discourse Studies, Corpus Linguistic

The analysis of euphemism expression in Joe Biden speech “Statement on Terror Attack in Afghanistan”

INDONESIA: Seorang narator telah mempersiapkan pidato sebelum menyampaikannya kepada audiens. Dia memastikan pidatonya efektif dalam menyampaikan maksud. Dia juga sering menggunakan kalimat yang diperhalus untuk menggantikan kalimat yang tidak menyenangkan. Penelitian ini meneliti tentang teks pidato yang menggunakan penghalusan kata untuk menyembunyikan kebenaran. Strategi ini disebut eufemisme yang berperan dalam memberikan kesan halus kepada pendengar untuk menghindari tanggapan yang tidak menyenangkan. Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk meneliti jenis, fungsi, dan fitur eufemisme politik dalam pidato Biden. Penelitian ini menggunakan teori Allan dan Buridge (1991) untuk meneliti jenis-jenis eufemisme dan Zhao dan Dong (2010) untuk menyelidiki fungsi dan fitur eufemisme politik. Peneliti mengambil data dari pidato Biden yang mengandung eufemisme dan metode penelitian yang digunakan adalah deskriptif kualitatif. Hasil penelitian menunjukkan bahwa terdapat sepuluh jenis ekspresi eufemisme, diantaranya metafora, flipansi, sirkumlokusi, akronim, substitusi satu untuk satu, bagian untuk eufemisme utuh, hiperbola, pernyataan meremehkan, jargon dan kolokasi. Selanjutnya, dalam pidato ini terdapat tiga fungsi sosial eufemisme diantaranya memberikan informasi, memberikan simpati, menyembunyikan kalimat tabu dan memberikan informasi, memberikan simpati, menyembunyikan kalimat tabu dan memberikan arahan kepada masyarakat. Peneliti juga menemukan fitur-fitur eufemisme diantaranya menetralisir kalimat, menyamarkan suatu tujuan dan mengganti kosakata populer. ENGLISH: A narrator has prepared a speech before delivering it to the audience. He makes sure his speech is effective in making a point smoothness sentences to replace unpleasant ones. This research investigates speech texts with a special focus on the use of euphemism which plays a role in giving a subtle impression to the listener to avoid unpleasant responses. It aims to study the types, functions and features of political euphemisms in Biden‘s speech. It employs Allan and Buridge‘s (1991) theory to examine the types of euphemisms and Zhao and Dong‘s (2010) to investigate the functions and features of political euphemisms. Using a descriptive qualitative approach, the results show that there are ten types of euphemism expressions, including Metaphor, Flippancy, Circumlocution, Acronym, One for One Substitution, Part for Whole Euphemism, Hyperbole, Understatement, Jargon and Collocation. Furthermore, there are three social functions of euphemism including providing information, providing sympathy, hiding taboo sentences and providing information, providing sympathy, hiding taboo sentences and providing direction to the community. Finally, this research reveals some euphemism features, including neutralizing sentences, disguising a purpose and replacing popular vocabulary. ARABIC: أعد الراوي خطابًا قبل إلقاءه للجمهور. لقد تأكد من أن خطابه كان فعالاً في إيصال الفكرة. كما أنه كثيرًا ما يستخدم التعبيرات الملطفة لتحل محل العبارات غير السارة. تبحث هذه الدراسة في نصوص الكلام التي تستخدم تنقيح الكلمات لإخفاء الحقيقة. تسمى هذه الاستراتيجية بالتعبير الملطف الذي يلعب دورًا في إعطاء المستمع انطباعًا دقيقًا لتجنب الاستجابة غير المواتية. تهدف هذه الدراسة إلى فحص أنواع ووظائف وخصائص العبارات الملطفة السياسية في خطاب بايدن. تستخدم هذه الدراسة نظرية آلان وبريدج (١٩٩١) لفحص أنواع التعبيرات الملطفة و ٗتشاٗ ٗدّٗغ (٢٠١٠ )للتحقيق في وظائف وخصائص التعبيرات الملطفة السياسية. وأخذ الباحث بيانات من خطاب بايدن احتوت على تعبيرات ملطفة وكان أسلوب البحث المستخدم وصفيًا نوعيًا. أظهرت النتائج أن هناك عشرة أنواع من التعبيرات الملطفة ، بما في ذلك الاستعارة ، والخطأ ، والتطيف ، والاختصار ، والاستبدال الفردي ، والجزء الخاص بالتعبير الملطف الكامل ، والمبالغة ، والتقصير ، والمصطلحات ، والترابط. علاوة على ذلك ، في هذا الخطاب هناك ثلاث وظائف اجتماعية للتعبير الملطف بما في ذلك توفير المعلومات ، والتعاطف ، وإخفاء الجمل المحظورة وتقديم المعلومات ، والتعاطف ، وإخفاء الجمل المحظورة ، وإعطاء التوجيهات للمجتمع. وجد الباحثون أيضًا ميزات للتعبير الملطف بما في ذلك تحييد الجمل وإخفاء الغرض واستبدال المفردات الشائعة

Metonymy and the conceptualisation of nation in political discourse

This paper discusses the role of metonymy, especially place-for-people , in current constructions of national identity. The corpus consists of ten political speeches (commemoration and election speeches) from Germany, Montenegro and North Macedonia used to detect and examine different levels of variation: from text type to cross-linguistic differences in the use of metonymies. The analysis showed that the most frequent metonym in two Western Balkan countries is the country name, referring to both the speaker as representative of an institution, and population. By contrast, the country name is rarely used in German speeches due to particular communicative and cultural factors. At the pragmatic level, metonymies perform a number of functions, such as legitimization, collectivization and evaluation. Moreover, they are used also as euphemisms and argumentation topos

Critical Discourse Analysis of Iranian Presidents’ Addresses to the United Nations General Assembly (2007-2016)

Critical Discourse Analysis studies of communication in political contexts have scrutinized the use of language by politicians striving to win public opinion and votes. Utilizing Teun A. van Dijk’s framework for political discourse analysis, this thesis examines linguistic features in eight addresses of Iranian Presidents, Hassan Rouhani and Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, to the United Nations General Assembly. The study described in this thesis combines micro-level text analysis (following 25 discursive devices introduced by Van Dijk, 2005) with a macro-analysis focusing on the dichotomy of ‘positive self-representation’ and ‘negative other-representation.’ The data analysis demonstrates that President Rouhani made more use of the discursive devices ‘consensus’, ‘illustration’, ‘hyperbole’ and ‘polarization’, whereas President Ahmadinejad employed more frequently ‘lexicalization’ and ‘vagueness’. The comparison of the speeches by two presidents at macro-level shows that Rouhani relied more on ‘positive self-representation’ and Ahmadinejad on ‘negative other-representation’. The results of the study also show that the two presidents convey different viewpoints on most topics covered in the eight UNGA addresses although their ideological stances on a few topics, such as world Zionism and the occupation of Palestine, seem quite similar

Framing terrorism and migration in the USA: the role of the media in securitization processes

American security discourse has intensified profoundly since 9/11. For nearly two decades, anxiety about the threat posed by the foreign other against the American self has influenced policy debates, the legitimization (and execution) of exceptional measures and the public mood. These changes in security discourse have co-occurred with seismic shifts in the increasingly complex media and information marketplace. The proliferation of media actors has stimulated more targeted news produced for niche audiences, meaning that public processing of security issues has also changed dramatically. Cable news in particular has matured into a polarized genre of information that commands the widest audience in the US. Through a cross-disciplinary approach that integrates securitization theory from International Relations and the broad framing scholarship from political communication, this thesis investigates the relationship of these developments. Specifically, it investigates the impact of media in the social (de)construction of security threats. Two illustrative case studies are considered across two presidential administrations from 2001-2016. First, the securitization of terrorism is explored with an emphasis on the discursive (de)legitimization of torture as an exceptional response. Even among exceptional measures, torture is exceptional: its practice has been banned both during and outside of wartime. That it is even up for debate – never mind that it briefly became “standard operating procedures” and nearly half of all Americans support it – is evidence of the successful securitization of terrorism. The second case study focuses on the securitization of unauthorized immigration, analyzing the contestation of competing remedy proposals and moral evaluations of the foreign other. Despite the oft-invoked immigration-terrorism nexus, American attitudes toward unauthorized immigrants have softened. In both cases, press framing appears to have influenced public attitudes, above and beyond political elite signals, suggesting that the media can act as an independent and strategic actor. This has implications for securitization theory, which traditionally relegates media to a facilitating role, rather than an independent securitizing actor. This also has broader democratic implications as unelected press actors increasingly assume political roles and drive the (de)legitimization of exceptional measures. Further contributions of this project include the discovery of cross-sectoral patterns, such as the consequences of silencing and the effectiveness of euphemisms. Finally, this thesis demonstrates the value of synthesizing concepts in framing scholarship with securitization theory. Methodological tools commonly used in framing studies – content and public opinion analysis – empower securitization theory with quantitative sophistication and hypothesis-tested assumptions that have been previously overlooked

A taxonomic analysis proposal for research in diplomatic interpreting

This paper focuses on Diplomatic Interpreting (DI), a speciality often included either in the conference or dialogue interpreting branch, depending on geographic and modal variables. Historically, diplomatic interpreters resorted to bilateral interpreting or mediation, but in the modern day, they oscillate between short and full consecutive, and on occasion simultaneous (presidential press conferences). This diffuse affiliation and the relatively small job market niche – hence its absence from degree syllabi – might be two of the motives why DI has not captured more attention from scholars. One interesting avenue for researchers might be the identification and classification of those aspects DI has in common with other types of interpreting, and what makes it different. In my discussion, I recapitulate DI specificities, encompassing requirements, expectations and devices, among which optimisation (as a strategy to overcome barriers and ensure full communication) is pivotal. As an illustration, I analyse an example of optimisation in the case of Romanian PM Viorica Dăncilă’s political blunder on her first visit to Montenegro. Finally, I advocate the recognition of the specificity of DI and I call for focussed research in this area

Translating United States congressional speeches : functionalist and discourse-analytical perspectives

This thesis seeks to highlight problems and strategies relevant to translating United States congressional speeches for a European readership. The analyzed material comprises ten as-yet untranslated speeches held in the House of Representatives and the Senate by members of both main parties, Democrats and Republicans. The material was delimited by time frame and subject matter: the speeches coincide with Donald Trump’s presidency and concern the United States’ commitment to NATO. The method of analysis involves a merger of functionalist translation approaches and political discourse analysis. Political source texts and their translations have been discussed by Christina Schäffner, upon whose genre-specific analyses of political speeches this thesis relies. Discourse analysis was chosen as a supplementary perspective due to the instruments it offers for the socio-cultural contextualization of texts beyond their linguistic units, thus adding to the generalizability of the analysis across potential target language communities. The discourse-analytical models employed in the thesis are derived from Muntigl (2002) and van Dijk (2002). Muntigl examines how political issues are politicized and depoliticized through specific linguistic resources, while van Dijk discusses discourse structures and how they reflect the wider context of discourse production, including a “cultural Common Ground” between interactants. The speeches are first analyzed under these two models, whereafter parallels are drawn between the results of the discourse analysis and Schäffner’s functionalist framework, so as to establish what implications the material poses for translation. The analysis found notable overlap between Schäffner’s functionalist approaches and the Muntigl and van Dijk models. The translational problems identified concern chiefly metaphor (including path semantic structures by which issues are politicized and depoliticized), genre conventions, contrastive meanings, deixis and, lastly, implicit information resulting from the speakers’ beliefs and the knowledge they assume of primary addressees. In light of these observations, further research on the translation of United States congressional speeches is encouraged