Discourse Analysis on Winston Churchill and Tony Blair

Section 1 1. 1 In this essay, I im recess be conducting a give-and-take analytic thinking on a patois make by Winston Churchill in the 1940s, when he informed the British public that they leave alone be entering war. I will mapping sociological investigate which examines the discourse of politics to supply context for this tongue. My research topic is to give a room of life in this essay is how blossom invites character persuasive techniques to win the encourage of the muckle.To achieve this, I will be comparing Churchills diction to Tony Blairs spoken language in 2003 when he decl atomic number 18d war on Iraq, to see what changes and convertibleities of discourses t here(predicate) are, regarding persuading and sort outing the support of the people. 1. 2 The consideration of the audience and their ad hoc thoughts and noniceings is certainly an essential theme when making a speech. Politicians use the talk word to rule, inform, strengthen and communicate wit h the public in order to go for their own, or their partys politics.As van Dijk puts it, affable office abuse, dominance, and divergence are enacted, reproduced, and resisted by text and talk in the social and policy-making context (2001 352). If we are the people who vote to put these politicians in power, we ought to snuff it much aware of the strategies and tactics behind their speeches. This will give us more opportunity of making a fair judgement of the significant meaning of the message, rather than the persuasive and deceiving talking to that often clouds our judgement.I will be utilize vituperative discourse epitome and rhetorical policy-making compend as it is an approach that is suitable for written texts and helpful for discovering institutional meanings that discharge hidden within rhetorical strategies. This system will facilitate me in finding the ideological dimension of discourse within the speeches I am analyzing (Cameron 2001123). 1. 3Using critic al discourse analysis I will analyse how the diction utilise in governmental speeches functions as a type of social practice that constructs the objects of which it purports to speak (Cameron 2001123).We can apply critical discourse analysis to expose the shipway discourse is interwoven with society and elaboration, Wodak notes society and culture are shaped by discourse, and at the same time patch up discourse (Wodak 2000146). The use of language can reproduce or read society and culture and it can to a fault be ideological. A way to discover its ideological qualities is by exploring their interpretation, reception and social effects (Wodak 2000146). By xamining speeches make by Winston Churchill and Tony Blair, I will seek to find the ideological messages that lie beneath their rhetoric language and uncover in what way their statements turn over inclined the British public and if their discourses have gained the publics support. 1. 4We at once turn to the second indentifi ed approach turn uplined in the introduction, rhetorical political analysis. It particularly focuses on the character and nature of rhetoric and its position in political analysis. Rhetorical style is concerned with the arrangement of the narrative.Johannesson (200065) implys to numerous ways of forming a classical rhetoric speech some(prenominal) Churchill and Blair use disposito, bragging(a) their argument structure and narratio, giving the numerateener essential background information. Historically, rhetorical has been utilize since the ancient Greek and Roman times and the Great philosopher Aristotle wrote a rhetoric textbook where he established the goals of this discipline. The old laws of the rhetoric make loved on in the modern world roughlyly in politics, and the battles of the sulphur valet War were not effective fought on land, except also on the air by great orators such as Hitler and Churchill.Both Churchill and Blair use galore(postnominal) of the classi c rhetorical structures when delivering their speeches which I will examine further in the next section. Section 2 2. 1 On the 13th may 1940 was Churchills first radio broadcast as Prime Minister with the direct audience being the British public. This was a live broadcast, with the fair game to inform the soil of the upcoming attack on Britain by the Germans. It becomes ostensible that Churchills key intention here is to persuade the nation in becoming actively involved in the war.His reasons of calling upon the nation as a whole were because all men were needed to bid, not just those who were in the army. Churchill was possibly attempting to involve every separate in the war, as his speech shows, There will be many men and women on this island who when the ordeal comes upon them, as come it will, will feel comfort and compensate pride that they are sharing the perils of the lads at the front. (13. 05. 40. ) He convinces the country to detain optimistic by saying We may loo k with confidence to the stabilisation of the front in France. (13. 05. 40).On the 4th June 1940, Churchill spoke to the House of commonality who were his steer audience, however there was also the wider audience of the nation. Conscious that the speech would be made public, Churchill did not exclusively turn to the audience members of the House of viridity but rather he was overlaying the outside audience with a make it goal to diminish the will of resistance among the British and conveying out a message to the USA to join the war with Britain. The speech made by Tony Blair to the House of leafy vegetable on 18th March 2003, was most likely one of the most important speeches of his years as the Prime Minister.This was a speech with the sole intention to persuade his audience sevens to vote for Britain to participate in the war in Iraq. Blair would not have been able to declare war without having the support of the Parliament, therefore it was crucial to gain their vote. The main audience of Blairs speech in 2003 were the British public. During this live broadcast, Blair told the nation that military action had already begun in Iraq. He try to convince the British public that he had made the right closing in sending troops to urge on, frankincense trying to justify his actions.Although the people of Britain were the direct audience, it is possible that Blair was reaching to a wider world wide audience. In his speech Blair addresses the people of Iraq directly saying I hope the Iraki people hear this message, our enemy is not you, but your barbarous rulers. (20. 03. 03) up to now though Churchill and Blairs speeches are slightly different concerning their goals, both use interchangeable methods in order to persuade the British public. In the chase sections I will analyse and consider the persuasive techniques I feel are of most significance.They include the use of personal pronouns, rhetorical style, repeat and parallelism with a brief discuss ion of the delivery of speech. 2. 2 personalized pronouns are very a lot linked with power and solidarity, therefore the prime(prenominal) of pronoun that each Prime Minister uses replicates this. When talking to the nation and the House of Commons both Churchill and Blair use the first person pronoun I on numerous times. I tends to be apply by both leaders much more often when addressing the House of Commons. The other first person pronouns which were utilise were Me and My. My was used when each leader was putting across their personal beliefs and opinions, such as Blairs hatred for ibn Talal Hussein, My detestation of Saddam. (Blair 18th March 2003) Me has similar functions to I as it symbolises the speaker and demonstrates that he is committing himself to his pledge. Wales (199666) said it is usually used to refer to the speaker and third parties who may not be consecrate in the current situation. The use of we can be exploited to suffer the responsibility. The general u se of we refers to the speaker and the listener.Through the use of comprehensive we we can see how the leaders assume to speak on the audiences behalf, for example We must not allow ourselves to be intimidated by the presence of these armoured vehicles (Churchill 13th May 1940) Churchill uses we inclusively numerous times to refer to himself and the people of Britain as one which in turn encourage solidarity. It is used most often by both leaders with the aim to persuade the audience to work as a team, by saying incorporated statements, for example we will we shall and so forth.Both Churchill and Blair tend to use we with the double importation that they are not lonesome(prenominal) speaking on behalf of their party but also on behalf of their audience. 2. 3 Churchill uses methods of persuasion through and through reasoning here he aims to calm the British, arguing their brief safety using reasonable reasoning We must never forget the solid assurances of sea power and those whi ch belong to air power if it can be locally exercised. (Churchill, split up 22) Its noted by Atkinson (198437) from his analysis of speeches that one of the most frequent means of extracting agreement is what he calls a list of terzetto. In political speeches lists of lead are usually easy to remember Of our country, of our Empire, of our Allies. (Churchills address to the nation 13th May 1940) Throughout his speeches Churchill has a tendency to use three part lists, as it makes the speech more memorable and therefore more likely to persuade the audience. In Blairs speech to the House of Commons, he uses a two-part list, No to any ultimatum no to any resolution. (18th March 2003) In a way we can see how these lists function in the similar way to parallelism, as they serve to emphasise the point being made.Three part lists are memorable for both the speaker and the listener as they are rooted in some cultures as encouraging a maven of solidarity and totality. The final categor y of persuasion is persuasion through the art of reasoning. Blair uses this method much more than Churchill. During his speech, Blair discusses a series of events to the House of Commons notifying them of Saddam Hussains actions. We can see how Blair felt it imperative to include real information, as this was the only way to justify his actions for urging Britain to go to war. 2. Churchill and Blair both perform the characteristics of a strong, virtuous leader. Churchill who led the last free European nation against Hitler, dares to confront the apparently relentless Nazi attack on Europe in so doing so, Churchill offered hope of freedom to the British people. Churchills choice of words and tone were very dramatic, and he used emotionally charged words to get to the heart of the people. Churchills soundbite holds identical features as the Blair equivalents to his manifesto, Tough on crime and tough on the causes of crime. (4. 07. 1993).Both leaders use the Aristotelian three mai n means of persuasion through the arousal of emotion, the persuasion through reasoning and persuasion through temperament and stance. Rhythm is one of the key features when analysing at the speeches, as this is what makes them flowing and thus effective. The use of lists of three memorable words and repetition of the main issues adds to the calendar method of birth control of the speech. Churchill generally uses the list of three and repetition more than Blair, therefore his speeches are more rhythmic. A very important and smart method used by both Churchill and Blair is the use of repetition and parallelism.Both Churchill and Blair used this device in order to gain their audiences support. One of the main reasons why Churchills speech to the House of Commons is convincing is because of his use of structural parallelism at the end of his speech, We shall go on to the end, we shall fight in France, We shall fight on the seas and oceans, We shall fight with growing confidence in the air, We shall fight on the beaches, We shall fight on the landing grounds (Churchill 4th June 1940) In contrast, Blairs does not use the structural parallelism in his speech to the House of Commons to the extent Churchill does.However Blair does use repetition to implement his point is, for example It is tremendous if such regimes disbelieve us, Dangerous if they think they can use our weakness, our waver even the natural urges of our democracy towards peace against us, Dangerous because one daylight (18th March 2003) Blair also repeats the word dangerous in order to tell his aim and convince his audience that if they do not agree to war, they will be facing a dangerous state of affairs.Section 3 3. 1 Comparing Churchills and Blairs speeches I have shown that there are many resemblances in the way they deliver speeches such as, explaining in honesty, the unassumingness of the threat and how they both describe the enemy as evil, but also in putting their causes in a global cont ext and in terms of using rhetorical devices, they both use repetition, soundbites, contrastive pairs and the list of three. The list of three is a perfect device when declaring war.The inclusiveness and punctuate of national solidarity and unity is what a leader needs to communicate and animate faith with the people. The major balance between the two leaders is that Blair uses the inclusive approach towards the world and possible allies, whereas Churchill speaks more exclusively for Britain solely. This also shows the difference in the times the speeches were made, as when Churchill made his speech it would have only reached the British public.In comparison, Blairs speech was televised globally, therefore he must address the audience more inclusively to make it relevant for the listeners. Although Blairs speech could be said to build on the works of Churchill such as using the same rhetorical devices, being a well composed speech and being expertly performed, ultimately, it is a lways the circumstances under which a speech is delivered that will give the speaker and the speech their rightfully earned respect. 3. To conclude, critical discourse analysis is a suitable method to analyse political speeches as it sees language as social practices, and as productive of experience which maintains power. It is particularly concerned with language used in political speeches and the media so it is not just context specific, but audience-specific. However, a disadvantage is although it had implications for individual language use, there are words and phrases they use which may not be applicable in 30 years time, as language is forever evolving.The limits of discourse analysis is that it does not give us a representation of the persons proposed psychological state, it instead focuses on power in a social context and how this is made through language, how it is challenged and recycled. I believe the use of language analysis related to social concepts could be more spr ead out by having studies made into how social situations themselves cause the discourse we use, also investigating how new meanings are given to words and what social implications they have in society. Bibliography BooksAtkinson, J (1985) Structures of Social Action Cambridge University Press Cameron, Deborah Working with spoken discourse Fairclough, N. (2003). Analysing handling Textual Analysis for Social Research. London Routledge. Gee, J. P. (2005). An Introduction to talk of Analysis Theory and Method. London Routledge Seale, Clive (2004) Researching society and culture Sage Publications Ltd Second Edition Wodak, Ruth (2000) Methods of Text and Discourse Analysis London, Sage Publications Wood, Linda A. (2000) Doing Discourse Analysis Sage Publications Articles and WebsitesEgbert. J Baker Grammar As Interpretation Greek Literature in Its Linguistic Contexts (1997) http//books. google. co. uk/books? id=L8VmSJeZCw0C&pg=PA175&lpg=PA175&dq=we+shall+fight+on+the+beaches+discours e+analysis&source=bl&ots=Kpm7QW94Mk&sig=1i_rPybz_RMBd1l_WB0nkeXWsso&hl=en&sa=X&ei=IOzqUKKeLoqU0QXYkoGQAw&ved=0CGwQ6AEwCQv=onepage&q=we%20shall%20fight%20on%20the%20beaches%20discourse%20analysis&f= faithlessly (online book) Fairclough & Wodak Critical discourse analysis Linguistics and English Language (1997) www. ing. lancs. ac. uk/ round/norman/critdiscanalysis. doc (online word document) Guardian Full text Tony Blairs speech (2003) http//www. guardian. co. uk/politics/2003/mar/18/foreignpolicy. iraq1 (website article) Language in use Sir Winston Churchill We shall fight them on the beaches