An Ideological Interpretation Of Political Discourse From The Perspective Of Appraisal System

Ideology belongs to the philosophical category. In a broad sense, it can be defined as any system of norms, values, and beliefs, not including any false or distorted meanings. In a narrow sense, it also includes individual and one-sided thinking system which may still comply with the ruling class. Generally speaking, the latter always cannot authentically reflect the reality. In other words, ideology is the belief and attitude embodied in the system of culture, recognition and affection. And ideology is expressed implicitly rather than explicitly. It is hidden in language expression in a form of naturalization and common sense.Fairclough (2003:80) pointed out that"ideology invests language in various ways at various levels"and that ideology is both"property of structures and of events". In other words, language implies ideology and in turn language can construct an ideological system. This study approaches political speeches from the interpersonal perspective, which examines what we might think of as the rhetorical power of language. In particular, it emphasizes the role that appraisal resources play in reflecting ideology in Obama's inaugural address. The research is carried out within the theoretical framework of Martin & White's Appraisal System and corresponding subsystems: Attitude, Engagement, and Gradation. The purpose of the research is to explore the relationship between the evaluative language and the ideology embedded in the language choices.This thesis analyzes Obama's inaugural address delivered on Jan. 20, 2009. Obama's election as the 44th president catches the attention of the whole world. The key to winning the election attributes to his talent in speech. Particularly, the subject matters in his speech conform to the trend of the times, speak for all Americans, and reflect the current ideology in America. This thesis aims at deciphering the ideology in his inaugural address under the theoretical framework of Martin & White's Appraisal system.Via the detailed analysis of evaluative items in Obama's inaugural address, we discover that Obama's inaugural address is full of appraisal resources, among them, Attitude is the strong preference across Obama's inaugural address, accouting for 46%; followed by Engagement, 36.4%; and Graduation is the least frequently used, 17.4%. Within the Attitudinal resources, Judgment is most frequently used. And all the positive appraisal resources in the whole address are attributed to American history, American founding fathers, peace-loving people around the world and those who support him and his political policies, etc. In the model of Engagement, the Contraction, especially the resources of Disclaim, is extensively adopted. It helps the addresser to present the definite viewpoint and his determination to lead the United States of America to a better future. Among the Graduation resources, the Force resources abound in the inaugural address. The extensive adoption of Intensification enforces the addresser's viewpoint, and enhances the power of persuasion of the language he uses.And we also find that there are several themes throughout the inaugural address, including"change","grandness","unity","continuity", etc., and each theme corresponds to certain appraisal resources. Through the analysis of these distribution of appraisal resources, it comes to general ideologies existing in Obama and contemporary America: (1) the present economic crisis is severer than before due to the ill political performance of the Bush's government; (2) though in the midst of crisis, America still remains the most powerful country and plays a leading role in the world; (3) the power and success of America rely on the values of American people. These ideologies are manifestations of self-confidence and the sense of superiority in Americans.The study of underlying ideology in political discourse can provide analytical tools for analyzing and explaining the intricateness of social and discursive practices. Generally speaking, ordinary audience or readers are reluctant to find the hidden meaning in political speech. We hope that this research will help audience more objectively and critically understand the underlying ideologies. And we also believe the analysis of underlying ideology will shed light on the reading and understanding of political discourse for English learners and teachers as well as researchers.