Chapter published in:
The Construction of ‘Ordinariness’ across Media GenresEdited by Anita Fetzer and Elda Weizman
[Pragmatics & Beyond New Series 307] 2019
► pp. 51–72
“You bring the steaks, I’ll bring the salad”
Presenting ordinariness in PM Netanyahu’s public talks
Zohar Livnat | Bar-Ilan University, Israel
In line with theories of charismatic leadership (Weber 1947, Shamir et al. 1994), and drawing on Goffman’s approach (1959) regarding impression management as well as on Sacks’ concept (1984) of (extra)ordinariness as a work done through discourse, this study defines and analyzes a discursive practice employed by Israeli PM Netanyahu in his public talks, namely the construction of an image that on the one hand, all citizens can identify and empathize with, and on the other, presents him as so unique as to be irreplaceable. The examples demonstrate the stylistic, discursive and thematic aspects of Netanyahu’s public discourse on the background of culture-specific norms and expectations.The analysis identifies two types of ordinariness that Netanyahu communicates to the audience: The positive ordinariness that Weizman and Fetzer (2018) associate with the fulfillment of civic duties, and being “all-Israeli” in the sense of being an average, down-to-earth member of Israeli society.
Keywords: self-presentation, impression management, political speech, Netanyahu, charismatic leadership, frame alignment, staged ordinariness, communicated ordinariness
Article outline
- 1.Constructing ordinariness
- 2.Between the ordinary and the epic
- 3.Benjamin Netanyahu as a case study
- 4.Netanyahu’s staged and communicated ordinariness
- 4.1Linguistic tools
- 4.2Reference to ordinary lifestyle and preferences
- 5.Constructing Netanyahu’s life as an epic
- 6.Problematizing the concept of ordinariness: The social-cultural perspective
- 7.Concluding remarks
-
References
Published online: 12 December 2019
https://doi.org/10.1075/pbns.307.03liv
https://doi.org/10.1075/pbns.307.03liv
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This volume. “Are Austrian Presidential Candidates Ordinary People? Candidates’ Self-Presentation Strategies on Twitter during the 2016 Austrian Presidential Campaign.”
Fetzer, Anita, and Elda Weizman
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Cited by
Cited by 3 other publications
Kohn, Ayelet
Niebuhr, Oliver & Vered Silber-Varod
Shukrun-Nagar, Pnina
This list is based on CrossRef data as of 01 april 2022. Please note that it may not be complete. Sources presented here have been supplied by the respective publishers. Any errors therein should be reported to them.