Systemic linguistic analysis of samples from economic speeches by Barack Obama and John McCain
Cadmus Kyrala | University of Birmingham
Using the principles of Systemic Functional Grammar (SFG) as pioneered by Michael Halliday, this paper compares samples from speeches by John McCain and Barack Obama. Given the world-wide media coverage of the 2008 United States Presidential Election, it was thought to be both relevant and potentially informative to apply such an analysis in attempt to identify ideologies in the texts and to explore the significance of notable differences or similarities. It was discovered that both texts manage the experiential, interpersonal, and textual meanings in ways which provide clear indications of ideology.
Keywords: Halliday, systemic functional grammar, experiential, interpersonal, textual, meaning, ideology, McCain, 2008 presidential election, Obama
Published online: 09 April 2010
https://doi.org/10.1075/jlp.9.1.04kyr
https://doi.org/10.1075/jlp.9.1.04kyr
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Oleinik, Anton
2015. The language of power: a content analysis of presidential addresses in North America and the Former Soviet Union, 1993–2012.
International Journal of the Sociology of Language 2015:236
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