Abstract
Interaction can take many dimensions such as face to face conversation, body language, written speeches, and so on. In almost every speech (spoken or written), the speaker or writer, in most cases, is the manager of his words. He controls and manipulates his words as he likes. In doing so, the speaker or writer puts information across to the listener or reader. The use of language in speech making is very important. The way language is used makes the speech meaningful to the listener. It is, therefore, necessary to look into the use of language in speech making. As far as this research is aware, not much has really been done in this area. Scholars and researchers focus their attention more on literary works than speech making. Political speeches have been severally made in various dimensions, and most of them have also been analyzed in one way or another. However, such speeches as Obama’s political speeches on “Race and Economic Renewal in America” have been, in most cases, analyzed in terms of theory and practice. Speeches are supposed to be studied and interpreted using suitable apparatuses. Obama’s speeches on “Race and Economic Renewal in America” definitely have pragmatic implications, but unfortunately have not been exhaustively discussed. This paper, therefore, attempts to analyze Obama’s political speeches on “Race and Economic Renewal in America” within the frame work of pragmatics theory of Conversational Implicature. DOI: 10.5901/mjss.2016.v7n3s1p253
Highlights
To appreciate the success or otherwise of President Obama’s speech is to determine those factors in the speeches which have enabled him to configure the American world before the Americans
It is widely held that the reality we perceive is a creature of the world
Since this paper attempts to analyze the political speeches of Obama, there is a need for one to understand the relationship that exists between language and politics
Summary
To appreciate the success or otherwise of President Obama’s speech is to determine those factors in the speeches which have enabled him to configure the American world before the Americans. Despite the crucial role language plays in politics, Fairclough (2012:1) contends that language can “misrepresent as well as represent realities, it can weave visions and imaginations which can be implemented to change realities and in some cases improve human well-being but it can rhetorically obfuscate realities and construe them ideologically to serve unjust power relations.” This implies that effective use of language in playing politics can bring about democratic dividends or achieve the reverse. The use of language in political speech and the way in which it is used so as to make the speech meaningful to the hearer is a very important enterprise that must be ventured into This reason has prompted the researcher to explore the theory of Conversational Implicature in “Race and Economic Renewal in America.”. This reason has prompted the researcher to explore the theory of Conversational Implicature in “Race and Economic Renewal in America.” The lacuna which this work recognizes is that the theory of Conversational Implicature has not been explored in Obama’s two selected political speeches under the present study
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