Outstanding Rhetorical Devices and Textuality in Obama’s Speech in Ghana, Africa

Concepción Hernández-Guerra

University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Gran Canaria, Spain.

DOI: 10.4236/ojml.2012.23013                

Abstract

Latest trends in political discursive analysis have shown the importance of the study done from the textual and contextual perspective alike. An oral speech has the property of having been prepared in advance but expressed with some improvisation so characteristics from written and oral texts must be taken into consideration. As a consequence, the structure of the discourse and the personal contribution of the author are seemingly relevant. The oral speech analyzed here was expressed in Ghana, Africa by President Barack Obama in 2009. Given the circumstances of Obama’s African origin and of visiting the country as the President of the United States, the elements that reveal the personal attitude comprise an extra interest. The aim of this paper is to analyze the speech from a discursive viewpoint in order to describe the textual and intertextual functions.

Keywords

Political; Discourse; Textual; Intertextual; Analysis

Conflicts of Interest

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

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