English Political Public Speaking: A Rhetoric Of Identification

Since political discourse reflects the close relation between politics and language, it has attracted many scholars' attention at home and abroad, and has been approached from a wide range of disciplines, like pragmatics, systemic-functional grammar, stylistics, critical discourse analysis, cognitive linguistics, and rhetoric. With regard to political discourse, these researches have all made their great contributions and shed light on different aspects of the total phenomenon. Meanwhile, they have inherent shortcomings. Therefore, we choose the subcategory of political discourse—English political public speaking (EPPS, for short) as the object of our present study. Based on the findings of Kenneth Burke's new rhetoric and classical rhetoric, we probe the identification strategies of EPPS from the perspectives of rhetorical content and rhetorical form.This study consists of two parts. The first part proposes a theoretical framework of EPPS identification. The second part applies the framework to expound the specific means of EPPS identification.Chapter 1 is a general introduction to the current EPPS research. The scope of the research is defined, the purpose and significance of the project are stated, the data and methodology to be used are described, and the overall structure of the thesis is summarized.Chapter 2 illustrates the definition and functions of EPPS; moreover, it also offers a state-of-the-art review of EPPS studies. Pragmatics, systemic-functional grammar, stylistics, critical discourse analysis, cognitive linguistics, and rhetoric all contribute to EPPS studies in different aspects. The present approach to EPPS analysis has also been stated.Chapter 3 introduces the theory of Kenneth Burke's new rhetoric, and expounds the notion of identification and its related terms. The rhetorical model of EPPS identification is based on the proposition that rhetorical process occurs in both rhetorical content and rhetorical form. The model serves as the framework for the following chapters.Chapter 4 investigates EPPS identification via rhetorical content: argumentation, emotional appeal, ethical appeal, antithesis, inaccuracy, and non-verbal symbolic actions.Chapter 5 considers EPPS identification via rhetorical form: conventional form, progressive form, repetitive from, and figurative form.Chapter 6 utilizes the theoretical framework proposed in chapter 3, 4, and 5 to make case studies. Having analyzed the three speeches in detail, we can draw the following conclusions. Firstly, the rhetoric of EPPS is a process of identification in which both the speakers and the audience try to commune with each other, verbally and non-verbally, in content and in form. The identification between them could be achieved via rhetorical content and rhetorical form. Rhetorical content is likely to bring about identification, for it appeals to people's faculties and meets their needs. Rhetorical form makes identification possible, because the audience first get involved in the form and then in the content. Secondly, some identification strategies are used more frequently than others in EPPS, according to different circumstances under which EPPS has been delivered and various purposes the speakers intend to achieve. For example, if the address was given in a war time or in an urgent situation, the speaker would be more likely to resort to emotional appeal than rational appeal. Thirdly, as EPPS is always well-prepared rather than impromptu, the subconscious or unconscious identification strategies are always employed by the speaker to accomplish their purposes, that is, to transcend division, gain identification and induce cooperation. Fourthly, EPPS always has clear and logical reasoning, emotive expressions, that is to say, in EPPS, the speaker tends to exploit rational appeal, emotional appeal, conventional form, progressive form and figurative form. Moreover, the speaker always employs repetitive form to help the audience remember the theme of EPPS. The problems or exigencies from the outside that need solving, i.e. gaining identification via antithesis, also frequently appear in EPPS.The final chapter draws the conclusion of the present study and points out its limitations and future efforts to be made.