Political Speeches And Control:a Critical Discourse Analysis On Speeches Of President Obama And President Bush

First appeared in language and control which is published in1979by Fowler, Hodge and Kress, critical discourse analysis is multidisciplinary, interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary. Critical discourse analysis is a social practice closely related to politics. It analyzes the relation between language, power and ideology, and it takes language as a choice of diction which is under the influence of power and ideology. The analysis of text is depend on the analysis of social context in which it happens and the process of discursive practice. Its purpose is to identify and analyze the hidden ideology and power and the way they influence people.Halliday’s three metafunctions in Systematic-Functional Grammar--ideational function, interpersonal function and textual function provide a detailed and concrete method and underpinning for the analysis of discourse structure and the relationship between discourse and context. It is the analytic tool of critical discourse analysis. Based on the three metafunctions of Halliday, this thesis elaborates the application of transitivity, transformation, mode, modality, tense, theme-rheme and preposition under the influence of the speaker’s ideology in the two speeches given by President Bush and President Obama, concerning9/11attacks from the perspective of critical discourse analysis. President Bush’s speech was addressed the same day the attack happened. On the contrary, President Obama’s speech was given ten years later when the leader of the9/11attacks--Osama bin Laden was killed, that is to say,9/11attacks were ended with a satisfactory victory. In the sharp contrast of social atmosphere, the author unveils how the politicians try to achieve their purpose by taking advantage of excellent wording skill. It also helps to represent how both presidents use language to express their hidden ideology to others to achieve their political purpose and then manipulate the audience’s ideology.The analysis of the two speeches proves that language is by no means neutral, but influenced by ideology and power. Both presidents spare no efforts to narrow the distance between the audiences and themselves, set up a good image and realize their political purpose. President Bush builds up his image of a responsible president who always stands by the common citizens in times of difficulty and shares the sorrows of the citizens. He also describes Ben Laden in as a merciless killer and fiercely condemns terrorists, which states the righteousness of the two wars launched in Iraqi and Afghanistan. President Obama recalls the tedious process of hunting Ben Laden in the past ten years, which shows his wise leadership in killing Ben Laden and describes himself to be a meritorious statesman, which contributes to another term of office.