Abstract
The paper presents an analysis of charisma-correlates in the language of political leaders in modern German and Ukrainian political discourse and answers the question of whether an ideal type can be an object of multimodal phonetical research. The discursive description of charismatic leaders in German and Ukrainian political discourse and the discovery of their contrastive features relies on biological, social, psychological and linguistic parameters forming their charismatic discourse portraits. Of decisive importance in this context, is the rhetoric of public appearance, expressive combative position, hortatority, timbral, prosodic and gesture-mimic characteristics further perceived and attributed to its carriers as charisma. Charismatic politicians have always been characterised by sharp statements, categorical views and mobilising speech. Inspirited or pep rhetoric is inherent in politicians whose position is contrary to the majority of the public, the opinion of their political allies, members of Parliament, etc. We can observe its manifestations in moments of acute crisis in political life. The prosodic specifics of charismatical discourse are characterised by intensification of all its dynamic, tonal, and temporal components. In phonetical studies, this acoustic effect is referred to as prosodic intensity understanding it as abrupt changes in pitch, loudness, tempo variations, and pauses in important utterances containing addresses, appeals and concepts with positive semantics. Charismatic rhetoric is also formed by the kinetic (gesture and mimic) component that is functionally related the prosodic representation of speech making communication more effective. A gesture is the action or movement of the body through which one individual signals another individual about his presence, his intentions regarding objects. Charismatic political communications are characterised primarily by accentuating or co-speech gestures that represent movements of the body, especially the arms/hands, by which the speaker explains, complements his words, highlights the key points, emphasises or amplifies a verbal utterance. A gesture is perceived by the addressee as a kinematic form of verbal charisma-appeal through which he exercises his influence on his followers and/or opponents encouraging them to commit actions aimed at achieving a particular goal. Charismatic rhetoric originates in political communication in times of crisis and is characteristic of politicians whose stand is not consistent with the majority position. Charismatic enthusiasm and inspiration are ethnically coloured (German rapsodicity, Ukrainian monotony) and are reflected in prosodic and gesture emphasis accompanying both independent and dependent parts of speech indicating the autonomy of charismatic rhetoric as a model. The results of this study can be applied in discourse studies, applied phonetics, comparative linguistics, and political communication.
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Disclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.