| This study examines the 1996 Taiwanese presidential campaign in an effort to assess the multiple tensions reflected in the rhetoric of the candidates as Taiwan struggles toward greater democratization. It analyzes the representative discourse of candidates—announcement speeches, acceptance speeches, press conferences, symposiums, interviews, debates, stump speeches, and televised forums.; This study investigates two major research questions. The first research question explores the campaign rhetoric exhibited by the only female vice-presidential candidate Wang Ching-feng and by the candidates' wives and female relatives. Specifically, it addresses the interplay of gender, religion, and rhetoric that emerged in Ms. Wang's discourse in order to interpret how she framed her rhetorical strategies to accommodate her conflicting roles as a woman and a speaker. In addition, it studies the rhetoric of the candidates' wives and other female surrogates to analyze how their rhetorical performances adhered to or contradicted Chinese conventional speaking etiquette for women. The second research question analyzes how the candidates' campaign rhetoric responded to the most salient issues in the campaign environment by assessing the interaction of their rhetoric with religion, ethnic issue, and reunification-independence argument. It deals with how these exigent issues shaped, challenged, and modified the candidates' rhetoric.; This study argues that Ms. Wang managed to synthesize the contradictory speaking demands by performing both feminine characteristics imposed by her gender role and masculine skills practiced by her male counterparts. Some women campaigners performed traditional feminine behaviors, whereas the others expanded woman's conventional speaking decorum by exhibiting masculine skills. This study reveals that an exigency in the rhetorical environment facilitated the development of a convergence in the discourse of the candidates. Moreover, this study concludes that the external crisis caused by the Chinese military threats allowed the candidates to generate creative and original rhetoric to redefine the most salient issues in the internal environment. |
