Critical Discourse Analysis Of Obama's Inaugural Speech And Victory Speech

Critical discourse analysis (CDA) proposed by linguists such as Fowler and Kress is one of the most important branches of discourse analysis. It aims to reveal the relationship among language, power and ideology. CDA is not a new method to analyze the discourse. Many political discourses have been analyzed with CDA. In recent years, as the first African-American president in American history, Barack Obama captured the world's attention. His speeches also draw the attention of linguists. The researchers abroad and at home have analyzed Obama's speeches by using all kinds of approaches. However, relatively few researchers apply CDA theory to analyzing Obama's speeches. This paper analyzes Obama's Inaugural Address and his Victory Speech with CDA theory. In the light of Fairclough's three-dimensional model and Halliday's systemic-functional grammar, the author attempts to explore the hidden relationship between language and ideology in the political discourse. The author also aims to explore how the language producer uses language to convey his ideology to others.This paper can be divided into five chapters. Chapter one offers an introduction which briefly introduces the background, the purpose and significance of the study, the methodology and the data of the study as well as the structure of this paper. Chapter two addresses literature review and theoretical framework of the study. Chapter three describes the formal features of Obama's two speeches in terms of Halliday's three metafunctions. Chapter four is mainly concerned with the interpretation and explanation of Obama's two speeches. Chapter five is the conclusion of this paper which summarizes the findings and offers the implications and limitations of this study.Critical discourse analysis is a socially directed application of linguistic analysis. And Halliday's systemic-functional grammar can be considered as the major methodological resource of CDA. Halliday put forward that language in use performs three functions, namely, ideational function, interpersonal function and textual function. The ideational function refers to the function that language is used to organize, understand and express our perceptions of the world and of our own consciousness. It is mainly realized by the transitivity system. The interpersonal function is the function that language is used to establish and maintain social relations. It is mainly realized by mood and modality. The textual function is the function that language is used to provide links with itself and with features of the situation in which it is used. This function is mainly realized by thematic structure.In this paper, the author mainly applies Fairclough's three-dimensional model to the analysis that includes three stages: description, interpretation and explanation. In the first stage, the author uses Halliday's three metafunctions to describe the formal features of the two speeches. In the second stage, the author explores the interaction between the speaker and the audience and interprets whether the use of linguistic features has any effect on the audience. It mainly discusses four questions:'what is going on','who is involved','in what relations and what is the role of language'. In the third stage, the author discusses the social context so as to explore the power relations and ideology in the discourse.Through the analysis, power relations and ideology hidden in political discourse can be exposed. The formal features such as the use of transitivity, the mood structure, the modality, and thematic structure are decided by the functions of language and the language producer's ideology. Obama, as an authority representative, tries to gain the audiences'support and convince them that his words match the facts. In the political discourse, the use of language is determined by the political purposes in a certain social context. And language producer uses all kinds of the textual features to establish solidarity and authority. In the two speeches, Obama tries to establish solidarity with the audience and perform his authority before the audience. In fact, such ideologies as authority and solidarity are reflected in the discourse, and in turn the discourse helps to strengthen these ideologies. That is to say, there is a dialectical relationship between language and ideology. Therefore, the politicians use the political discourse as an effective tool to realize political purposes. When analyzing the political discourse, we should not only concentrate on the language, but also consider its social factors, such as the historical context, social culture, power and ideology.This paper intends to uncover the relationship among language, power and ideology in the political discourse and explore how the political discourse is used to achieve political goals. At the same time, the study can help to cultivate people's critical awareness and critical way of thinking in reading. It is helpful for people to improve their reading ability, so that they can have a better understanding of discourses, especially political discourse. And the study can give some inspiration to the English learners and teachers.