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Interpersonal Meaning Of American Psychological Warfare (PSYWAR) Leaflets Disseminated In Iraq

Posted on:2009-03-22Degree:MasterType:Thesis
Country:ChinaCandidate:Y P HeFull Text:PDF
GTID:2166360245990550Subject:Foreign Linguistics and Applied Linguistics
Abstract/Summary:PDF Full Text Request
Since the 20th Century, Psychological Warfare (PSYWAR) to win victory without bloodshed has ascended to be a key winning factor of the war and plays an increasingly important role in attaining national strategic target. Through written and pictorial messages and by means of cognition manipulation, emotion inducement and will strike, psychological warfare leaflets as the most popular form of printed PSYWAR aim at exercising planned influence over the audiences, changing their beliefs, emotions and attitudes, stimulating significant actions and ultimately supporting the attainment of subduing the enemy without fighting.The previous research into leaflets either abroad or at home is mainly from the perspective of psychology of strategics or mass communications with little exploration within linguistic theories. Psychological warfare leaflets have long been used as a strategic weapon winning minds and hearts by the U.S. army, whose creation is infiltrated with collective wisdom and pains of the U.S. army experts on PSYWAR. In view of this, the present thesis seeks to provide an investigation of linguistic elements in the leaflet texts within the theoretical framework of SFL to explore the interpersonal meaning in American psychological warfare leaflets disseminated in Iraq from mood and modality system, in the hope of finding out how the leaflet addressors employ proper linguistic devices to express their attitudes and opinions so as to influence and persuade the audiences effectively.Based on the statistical analysis of the mood and modality in the leaflets samples, it is evident that the addressors are most frequently and explicitly inclined to show their attitude of negotiation and establish a relationship of equality and solidarity with the audiences. Obviously, the addressors are hammering at capturing minds and hearts of the Iraqi military and people so as to isolate Saddam and his supporters and put an end to his regime ultimately. However, though by using various linguistic devices, the addressors appear to make room for the negotiation of the issues, they never neglect their attitude towards, or opinion about the situation or event at all by raising an implication that the claimed points of view are either self-evident or any rational or humane person will identically agree, thus claiming the most natural, implicit, and irresistible power which forms the exact essence of the interpersonal meaning in the American psychological warfare leaflets.
Keywords/Search Tags:psychological warfare (PSYWAR) leaflets, the Iraqi War, interpersonal meaning
PDF Full Text Request
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