Rhetoric and audience reception: An analysis of Theresa May’s vision of Britain and Britishness after Brexit

Judi Atkins

doi:10.1177/0263395721991411

Abstract

This article demonstrates the value of rhetorical audience studies for analysing constructions of ‘the nation’ and national identity. A key strength of this approach is its recognition of the interplay between the rhetorical situation, the text of the speech, and the audience’s responses to that rhetoric. Using the historical method for investigating rhetoric and its reception, the article examines Theresa May’s efforts to bring the nation together after the 2016 referendum and to offer an inspiring vision of post-Brexit Britain. A textual analysis shows that her rhetoric of Britishness was constructed around an imagined audience of Leave voters, and thus excluded Remainers from her conceptions of Britain and ‘the British people’. The audience reception study supports this finding, as it reveals two competing myths of ‘the nation’ which in turn constituted rival subject positions. In short, May’s epideictic failed to unite the country behind her conception of a strong, cohesive Global Britain.

Highlights

This article demonstrates the value of rhetorical audience studies for analysing constructions of ‘the nation’ and national identity
Studies of Brexit and political language have typically employed discourse analysis (e.g. Daddow, 2019; Koller et al, 2019; Zappettini and Krzyżanowski, 2019). This approach – like rhetorical enquiry – is concerned with the ‘dynamic, often temporally changeable meanings that shape social practices and that are actively transformed across time and space’ (Martin, 2014: 11), as well as with the creation of subject positions
Through an examination of Theresa May’s efforts to redefine Britain and Britishness during her premiership, the article demonstrates the value of rhetorical audience studies for analysing conceptions of ‘the nation’ and national identity

Summary

Introduction

This article demonstrates the value of rhetorical audience studies for analysing constructions of ‘the nation’ and national identity. It has demanded a renewal of the national community, uniting the people behind a vision of what Britain will be when it leaves the European Union. These features of rhetorical enquiry enable it to shed valuable light on how Brexit, the nation, and ‘the British people’ have been (re)defined since 2016.

Results

Conclusion