A Study on the Pragmatic Identity Construction in Acceptance Speech at Kobe’s Basketball HOF Induction by the Public Figure

Abstract

On 15th May, 2021, Kobe’s widow Vanessa Bryant made an impressive acceptance speech at the Basketball Hall of the Fame Enshrinement Ceremony. This paper takes this speech as the research object and explores the well-known public figure’s pragmatic identity of Vanessa and Kobe by adopting the pragmatic theory and Verschueren’s theory of language adaptation. Through qualitative analysis, this paper found that in this speech, the speaker, Vanessa, not only constructed her own identity of a decent public speaker and a supporter, but also constructed the identity of Kobe as a strong-willed athlete, a fan-loving star, a great family man and a spiritual leader. And this dynamic identity construction in the acceptance speech is to adapt the communicative context of the public speech.