A Pragmatic Analysis Of Rhetorical Vagueness In American President Obama’s Political Speeches In2011

It is universally acknowledged that vagueness is an inherent property of language. The appropriate and rational use of vague language in daily communication can enhance the expressivity of language, make the interaction smoother and consolidate the interpersonal relationship. Vagueness is closely related to pragmatics. Pragmatic theories can offer a unique insight into the understanding and interpretation of rhetorical vagueness.This thesis tries to analyze the vague language from the pragmatic dimension. First, the author reviews the previous studies of vagueness abroad and at home and provides relevant definitions of rhetorical vagueness. Based on the formation mechanism, rhetorical vagueness can be classified into logic vagueness, semantic vagueness and figurative vagueness. Then, the author systematically introduces context, cooperative principles and politeness principles in pragmatics which constitutes the theoretical instructions for the analysis of rhetorical vagueness. Finally, the author conducts a comprehensive study of the rhetorical vagueness in American President Obama’s political speeches. The author discovers that Obama employs various kinds of rhetorical vagueness in his political speeches which includes vague words and expressions, hedges, metaphors and euphemisms. The application of rhetorical vagueness has special pragmatic functions such as avoiding some sensitive information such as war and inflation of prices, protecting the speaker when he presents his personal opinion, shifting responsibility by citing other’s standpoints or comments, expressing politeness by virtue of euphemisms, and creating a desirable blueprint for the American people by use of vague adjectives, all of which make Obama’s political speeches more convincing and trustworthy.