scholarly journals The Concept of “New Life” as a Powerful Psycholinguistic Element in the Inaugural Addresses of the U.S. Presidents

2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (33) ◽  
pp. 8-16
Author(s):  
Maria Shutova ◽  
Svitlana Mudrynych

The article deals with the concept of “new life” in the inaugural addresses of the U.S. presidents. A political language, as a reflection of people’s behavior in a certain ethnocultural community, is under the consideration. The investigation of political language caused the special approach to the analysis of lexical units that comprise the semantic group “novelty”. Based on this analysis a group of words that have the common sema “new” was singled out. The means of expressions and stylistic devices that presidents used to express the idea of “new life” were determined. The presidents make people believe in their ability to take new actions and change the situation, lead the nation to new, better life. Adjective “new” is often used by the presidents in context of the necessity to revitalize old values, to renew the nation spiritually. Analysis of inaugural address of American presidents showed that ideas of “new life” run through the entire speech of every president. In this article the role of the idea of “new life” in inaugural addresses of American presidents and means of its conveying has been studied. Model of a “new life” can be rather complex, needs more or less strong argumentation. The very word-combination the “better life” predetermines that this life should be different from the existing one, i.e. new. Thus concept of “new life” plays important role in political discourse. Consequently, our research may be understood not only as belonging to a narrow sphere of analysis of political discourse but to wider branch of science – linguistic political science.

2014 ◽  
Vol 15 (2) ◽  
pp. 255-291
Author(s):  
Dafnah Strauss

This paper studies political language in late nineteenth century partisan newspapers by (a) evaluating the degree of pragmatic force, or ideological closure in political editorial content published during the 1872 election year in three leading Iowa newspapers; and (b) linking variations in the degree of ideological closure of these texts to the institutional and social-political contexts of their production, i.e. the political role of editors and the web of relationships within which they performed their work. The degree of ideological closure is evaluated by analysing a range of rhetorical and discursive practices. The study identified variations in degree of closure both between newspapers affiliated with the same party and within a single newspaper over time. Such variations are interpreted as reflecting editors’ need to mitigate an intricate set of political interests and obligations. The analysis also brings to light the richness of partisan editorial language of this time. These finds demonstrate the complexity of the political language and discourse of Gilded Age newspapers.


2016 ◽  
Vol 15 (2) ◽  
pp. 129-148
Author(s):  
Hiroshi Okayama

AbstractRevisiting the origins of the Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC) created in 1887 and offering a fresh interpretation that the commission was conceived and operated as a highly court-like agency, this paper argues that its emergence triggered the judicialization of the U.S. administrative state. It has been argued that the blueprint of the ICC took after existing railroad commissions. Its proponents in Congress, however, redesigned it with judicial courts as a model after facing criticisms based on the common-law principle of the supremacy of law allowing adjudication only to judicial courts. In accordance with such an institutional scheme, both the president and judiciary promoted the commission's judicialization by appointing lawyers as its members and reviewing its decisions. By the early twentieth century, the ICC was a prototypical agency whose court-like features permeated the administrative state. This paper thus offers a corrective to the literature on the U.S. administrative state building that has come to trivialize the role of the rise of the ICC. It was, instead, a critical juncture in the emergence of the modern administrative state in which being “quasi-judicial” was the norm rather than the exception for an administrative agency.


Author(s):  
Petr Krčál ◽  
Vladimír Naxera

The following article aims to provide an interpretation of the annual public occasion called the “Liberation Festival” in Pilsen. The Liberation Festival serves as a celebration of the liberation of Pilsen by the U.S. army. Our paper presents a dramaturgical analysis of this occasion. More specifically, our effort is focused on two main interpretative threads. With respect to the first one (called “the production of discourse”) we analyse the processes of the (re)production of political discourse related to this public occasion. We also identify the main discourse that is typically produced or reinforced during the Liberation Festival. The second interpretative thread is called “the organizational line of the Liberation Festival”. Here, we try to provide examples and identify characteristics of the strategies and practices that can be employed by state apparatuses to present themselves as guarantors of the security of festival goers. Our findings confirm that public ceremonies (like the Liberation Festival) can fulfil the role of a medium that serves to spread actual political discourse, the veneration of actual societal normative order, and a positive portrait of state apparatuses. Our article can thus be viewed as a contribution to the debate on the reproduction of political discourse through public spectacles.


Author(s):  
Н. Гезайли

Постановка задачи. В предлагаемой статье мы подвергаем прагматическому анализу употребление стилистически окрашенных языковых единиц в политическом дискурсе жанра устной речи: на материале телевизионных выступлений (таких, как заседание и интервью) Президента России. Исследование окрашенных языковых единиц в рамках политического дискурса представляет собой особый интерес, поскольку данные единицы обслуживают прагматику языка. Результаты. Прагматическая информация в политическом дискурсе распределена между всеми языковыми единицами. Однако стилистически окрашенные языковые единицы, под которыми мы подразумеваем коннотативно насыщенные слова, выражения, фразеологизмы и афоризмы, несут в себе наибольшую прагматическую нагрузку. Именно они способствуют не только привлечению внимания адресата, но и воздействию на него. Выводы. Политический дискурс, представляя собой специфический и комплексный вид коммуникации, требует особого подхода к его исследованию. Роль стилистически окрашенных языковых единиц в реализации речевой интенции адресанта в политическом дискурсе велика. В ходе исследования было констатировано, что использованные Президентом России слова, выражения, фразеологизмы и афоризмы носят в целом оценочный характер, точнее ироническую окраску (в частности, отмечается довольно частотное употребление фразеологизмов (81.81%), а иногда стилистически сниженных слов и выражений (6.06%)). Это возможно объяснить тем, что фразеологизмы, в отличие от афоризмов, являются носителями лексического значения и могут выступать в качестве эквивалентов слов. Кроме того, степень сочетаемости компонентов во фразеологизмах неодинакова, т.е. в них могут входить несвободные, но легко отделяемые по смыслу слова, и употребляться в переносном значении. Следовательно, они с большей лёгкостью создаются в процессе речи, способствуя достижению иллокутивной цели адресанта. Тем не менее фразеологизмы и афоризмы, а также стилистически сниженные слова благодаря своей экспрессивности способствуют не только привлечению внимания адресата, но и воздействию на него, производя при этом определённый прагматический эффект. Problem statement. In the proposed paper, we subject to a pragmatic analysis the use of stylistically colored linguistic units in the political discourse of the genre of oral speech: based on the material of television speeches (as meeting and interview) of the President of Russia. The study of colored linguistic units within the framework of political discourse is of particular interest, since these units serve the pragmatics of language. Results. Pragmatic information in political discourse is distributed among all linguistic units. However, stylistically colored linguistic units, by which we mean connotatively saturated words, expressions, phraseological units and aphorisms, carry the greatest pragmatic load. They contribute not only to attracting the attention of the addressee, but also to influencing him. Conclusion. Political discourse, representing a specific and complex type of communication, requires a special approach to its study. The role of stylistically colored linguistic units in the realization of the addressee's speech intention in political discourse is huge. In the course of the study, it was stated that the words, expressions, phraseological units and aphorisms used by the President of Russia are generally evaluative, more precisely, ironic (in particular, there is a fairly frequent use of phraseological units (81.81%), and sometimes stylistically reduced words and expressions (6.06%)). This can be explained by the fact that phraseological units, unlike aphorisms, are carriers of lexical meaning and can act as an equivalent of words. In addition, the degree of compatibility of components in phraseological units is not the same, i.e. they may include non-free, but easily separable words, and be used in a figurative sense. Consequently, they are more easily created in the process of speech, contributing to the achievement of the illocutionary goal of the addressee. Nevertheless, phraseological units and aphorisms, as well as stylistically reduced words, due to their expressiveness, contribute not only to attracting the attention of the addressee, but also to influencing him, while producing a certain pragmatic effect.


Author(s):  
Erik Alfred Olsen ◽  

This article explores the role of negative distrust as applied to the 2020 U.S. presidential election focusing specifically on the campaign and sup- porters of President Donald J. Trump. I survey negative campaigning rhetoric, the enlistment of far-right militant groups to his cause and the general political discourse of the Trump campaign and its allies and how these elements created a dangerous environment within the United States leading to the 6 January attack on the U.S. Capitol. Furthermore, I examine how the sowing of con - spiracy theories, fear and disinformation had led directly to a degradation of the presidential election process and for the first time in U.S. history, there was not a safe and smooth transfer of power from one presidential administration to another. Finally, I conclude how the active employment of negative distrust amongst the electorate contributes to political and national instability that threatens not merely constitutional crisis, but the invalidation of the electoral process in the United States in general.


2020 ◽  
Vol 24 (2) ◽  
pp. 509-524
Author(s):  
Julio Uribe Ugalde

The last book by the Chilean writer Pedro Lemebel (1952–2015) is entitled Mi Amiga Gladys (2016), a production entirely dedicated to his friend Gladys Marín (1938–2005). To date, this work has attracted little attention from academia, perhaps due to its apparently less confrontational discourse, one of the common characteristics of Lemebel’s previous works. However, this essay proposes that Lemebel’s last book in fact reveals a political statement, yet disguised as an intimate/sensitive declaration. This element would reflect a literary strategy employed by the writer, possibly aiming at eliciting a sympathetic response from the reader, by appealing to his/her emotions. By drawing on Affect theory, this essay argues that Lemebel’s personal/emotional stories with Gladys aim at recuperating her legacy, highlighting his friend’s social commitment and spirit of resistance. His contribution is indeed relevant to Chilean culture, as Lemebel views Chile’s recent past, so arguably conflicted and fragmented in its post-dictatorship period (from 1990 onwards). This study aims at being an innovative contribution to Lemebel’s studies, as it approaches his political discourse from an affective perspective, possibly establishing an original model for future analyses of his work.


2017 ◽  
pp. 98-134 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. Tirole

In the fourth chapter of the book “The economy of the common good”, the nature of economics as a science and research practices in their theoretical and empirical aspects are discussed. The author considers the processes of modeling, empirical verification of models and evaluation of research quality. In addition, the features of economic cognition and the role of mathematics in economic research are analyzed, including the example of relevant research in game theory and information theory.


Author(s):  
Rosina Lozano

An American Language is a political history of the Spanish language in the United States. The nation has always been multilingual and the Spanish language in particular has remained as an important political issue into the present. After the U.S.-Mexican War, the Spanish language became a language of politics as Spanish speakers in the U.S. Southwest used it to build territorial and state governments. In the twentieth century, Spanish became a political language where speakers and those opposed to its use clashed over what Spanish's presence in the United States meant. This book recovers this story by using evidence that includes Spanish language newspapers, letters, state and territorial session laws, and federal archives to profile the struggle and resilience of Spanish speakers who advocated for their language rights as U.S. citizens. Comparing Spanish as a language of politics and as a political language across the Southwest and noncontiguous territories provides an opportunity to measure shifts in allegiance to the nation and exposes differing forms of nationalism. Language concessions and continued use of Spanish is a measure of power. Official language recognition by federal or state officials validates Spanish speakers' claims to US citizenship. The long history of policies relating to language in the United States provides a way to measure how U.S. visions of itself have shifted due to continuous migration from Latin America. Spanish-speaking U.S. citizens are crucial arbiters of Spanish language politics and their successes have broader implications on national policy and our understanding of Americans.


2015 ◽  
Vol 31 (2) ◽  
pp. 215-240
Author(s):  
Eran Laish

This article focuses on the main contemplative principles of the ‘Heart Essence’ (sNying thig), a Tibetan Buddhist tradition that is characterized by a vision of non-duality and primordial wholeness. Due to this vision, which asserts an original reality that is not divided into perceiving subject and perceived object, the ‘Heart Essence’ advocates a contemplative practice that undermines the usual intuitions of temporality and enclosed selfhood. Hence, unlike the common principles of intentional praxis, such as deliberate concentration and gradual purification, the ‘Heart Essence’ affirms four contemplative principles of non-objectiveness, openness, spontaneity and singleness. As these principles transcend intentionality, temporality, and multiplicity, they are seen to directly disclose the nature of primordial awareness, in which the meanings of knowing and being are radically transformed. Therefore, the article will also consider the role of these non-dual contemplative principles in deeply changing our understanding of being and knowing alike.


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