Anna V. A.
Some structural peculiarities of the texts of pre-election propaganda speeches
The distinctive features of every discourse type and its language are
determined by some definite intentions and the set of functions being characteristic
for the texts which make up a certain discourse type. As is well known, the
political language main function is its being the instrument of a political
power. However, there are many additional functions being distinguished within
the instrumental function of a political discourse. They are: the social
control function (public opinion manipulation); the power legitimization
function (the explanation of decisions about power distribution); the power
reproduction function (power consolidation); the society orientation function
(political reality formation in the public opinion); the public solidarity
function (the integration of certain social groups); the social differentiation
function (the estrangement of some social groups) etc. [Шейгал
2004:35].
While analyzing various texts with definite intentional contents being
aimed at the realization of some functions mentioned above, we can see that
there exist several text types within the political discourse which possess
some well-distinguished typological peculiarities. At that, the definition of a
text type may be given as “the group of texts possessing some common
characteristic features” [Филиппов 2003:190]
and “having one and the same communicative aim” [Комлева
2003:7]. Thus it may be stated that the
texts of pre-election propaganda speeches may be regarded as a certain text
type. Moreover, the distinctive patterns of the composition of the texts under
analysis and the specific sphere of their use give us the possibility to refer these
text types to some definite speech genre (that is to “a definite type of an
utterance being relatively fixed from the point of view of its thematic,
compositional and stylistic contents” [Бахтин 1979:241]).
The study of the texts of pre-election propaganda speeches lets us point
out the following structural features of their composition.
1) In comparison with many other text types, pre-election propaganda
speeches are rather long. Their volume can be of several printed pages in a
fixed form. However, the analysis of
these text types lets us make a conclusion that they consist of some smaller
micro-texts (or intentional parts) which present one definite fact of reality
or some dominant idea, one dominant communicative component (an intentional
component proper) and one dominant speech tactics (which is often
manipulative). In other words, a certain micro-text is an extended speech act
which has all the characteristics mentioned above and is connected with the
preceding and following micro-texts which make up the whole macro-text of a
pre-election propaganda speech. Every micro-text has its own composition which
can be marked graphically and syntactically.
For example:
a) …So, I’ve given my team their
orders for more police; for cleaner hospitals; for lower taxes; for school
discipline and for controlled immigration. They are what people up and down
this country want. They are what people up and down this country have waited
years ago. They are what the Conservatives will deliver. If you vote
Conservative you’ll be ordering us to get on with it. And that’s exactly what
we’ll do. We’ll get straight to it.
I want people to have the
freedom, security and opportunity to get on in life, and get on with life:
- the
freedom to take the important decisions about their lives and to keep more of
the money they earn;
- the
security that goes with owing your home, saving for your retirement, living in
the same neighborhood; and
- the
opportunity that comes from a thriving economy and good education…
(Howard: Our
hope is for a better Britain, http://www.conservatives.com)
As it can be seen, the part of the text type given above consists of two
micro-texts. The pre-planned perlocutionary effect of
the micro-texts is that of winning the recipients’ confidence and trust. To
achieve the necessary effect the indirect speech act of praise is produced in
the first micro-text which is intensified with an explicit persuasive
component. The persuasive component is expressed through parallel constructions
with anaphoric repetitions. The first micro-text is turning to the second one
which contains a promissive intentional act. The promissive intention of the
second micro-text is realized in a corresponding act in which the speaker’s
desires and wishes are presented to the recipients as something being
promised. It should be noted that the
second micro-text has a remarkable graphical pattern.
Sometimes micro-texts within the bulk of one and the same text type are
given separate headings which makes the intentional segmentation of a text type
clearly marked.
For example:
b) SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT
In February, we published our
Party's new statement of aims and values, called Built to Last. Right at the top, it makes clear that our aim is to improve the
quality of life for everyone through a dynamic economy, a strong society, and a
sustainable environment. That triple focus is of course the foundation
of real sustainability. But in the context of sustainable development, there
are two vital things about Built to Last.
LONG TERM THINKING
The first is reflected in the
name of the document. We're serious about developing policy for the long term.
I think there has been far too much short-term policy-making in recent years.
Time and again we've seen
policy initiatives announced to get headlines in the media which then fall
apart, fail to deliver, and end up being abandoned or reversed.
(Cameron: General Well-Being speech, http://www.conservatives.com)
2) Most texts of pre-election propaganda speeches have a three-part
composition. In the first part (the
introduction), the intentional acts of greeting and thanks to the recipients
are realized. The second (and the most informative) part represents the set of
micro-texts which are aimed at the achieving of the pre-planned perlocutionary effect.
The purpose of this part is to make the recipients vote for the speaker
and his team. Very often the pre-planned effect is supposed to be achieved
through some manipulative tactics. The third part (the conclusion) is an
implicit or an explicitly expressed appeal to vote for a definite party or a
candidate. However, it should be noted here that such a composition of speeches
under analysis is not always observed.
Bibliography.
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