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Abstract

Barack Obama’s rise to presidency and political stardom generated much excitement and saw him become closely associated with values of hope and unity, which appeared to be fundamental principles within his ideological stance. Many have suggested that these values are reflected and reiterated in his political discourse, however some claim that Obama fails to acknowledge racial oppression in his speeches and others have highlighted ‘political failings’ that do not appear to align with the values. This study analyses how, by using implicit meaning as a persuasive and/ or manipulative discursive tool in two of his most prominent speeches, Barack Obama expresses and reiterates those senses of hope and unity that he became so strongly associated with. A critical discourse analysis approach with a consideration for shared, contextual knowledge as a crucial analytical dimension is used as a framework for analysis.  

The analysis revealed that Obama does not only attempt to ‘persuade’ the audience into aligning with the values of hope and unity through implicit meaning, but, more significantly, to promote these values he manipulates language through implicature by means that appear contradictory to those senses of hope and unity that he aims to align himself with. These include, amongst others, devaluing ongoing racial oppression. This dissertation highlights the importance for critical analyses of implicature within political discourse as a means of exposing manipulative language and ideological stances.     

Course: English Language and Linguistics - BA - C2742S

Date Deposited: 2022-02-10

URI/permalink: https://library.port.ac.uk/dissert/dis13758.html