Verbal Strategies for Maintaining Power in Public Discourse of the Spanish Monarchy

Abstract

Politicians and public figures seek to actively use verbal strategies and tactics in order to influence the views and values of the audience and, if necessary, transform its worldview. That is why, the impact of discourse always remains a relevant topic and is a promising and actively developing field in modern linguistics. It is widely known that the ways we think and talk about a subject or a fact influence and reflect the ways we act in relation to that subject. The discourse of power can have both a direct impact through direct speech acts (laws, orders, instructions), and an indirect one, i.e. it can convince the audience through arguments, examples and other rhetorical means that increase the possibility of speech impact. At present, state leaders, in their maintaining power, mostly appeal to public consciousness, in which case factual information loses its significance and content conceptual information becomes more important, revealing the speaker’s attitude towards realities of socio-economic and political life of the country. Within the framework of this paper, we have analyzed communicative strategies in public discourse of the Spanish monarch Felipe VI (from 2014 to 2022) aimed at his maintaining power. As a result of the analysis, we have revealed that, firstly, the interpretation strategy is a conventional resource in the King’s public discourse because of the need of the Spanish Crown to influence the way the internal and external audiences interpret events and facts. Secondly, the strategy of evoking an emotional mood is fundamental in the current context as it helps the monarch unite the Spanish society on common values and awaken their patriotic feelings. Thirdly, nowadays, due to the problems of modern Spain in general and the Crown in particular, the King’s speeches are more emotionally charged in order to demonstrate his empathy and desire to share his feelings and emotional experiences, which contributes to building a trusting relationship with the nation and creating a situation of mutual understanding.