A critical discourse analysis of hillary clinton’s 2015 presidential campaign launch speech

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POSTGRADUATE STUDIES ********************* NGUYỄN THU HẰNG A CRITICAL DISCOURSE ANALYSIS OF HILLARY CLINTON‟S 2015 PRESIDENTIAL CAMPAIGN LAUNCH SPEECH Phân tích diễn ngơn phê phán phát biểu phát động chiến dịch tranh cử Tổng thống Mỹ năm 2015 Hillary Clinton M.A MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS Field: English Linguistics Code: 8220201.01 Hanoi, 2018 VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POSTGRADUATE STUDIES ********************* NGUYỄN THU HẰNG A CRITICAL DISCOURSE ANALYSIS OF HILLARY CLINTON‟S 2015 PRESIDENTIAL CAMPAIGN LAUNCH SPEECH Phân tích diễn ngơn phê phán phát biểu phát động chiến dịch tranh cử Tổng thống Mỹ năm 2015 Hillary Clinton M.A MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS Field: English Linguistics Code: 8220201.01 Supervisor: Prof Dr Nguyễn Hoà Hanoi, 2018 DECLARATION I hereby certify that the thesis entitled “A critical discourse analysis of Hillary Clinton‟s 2015 Presidential Campaign Launch Speech” is the result of my own research for the Degree of Master of Arts at the University of Languages and International Studies, Vietnam National University, and that this thesis has not been submitted for any other degrees Hanoi, 2018 Nguyễn Thu Hằng ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to express the deepest appreciation to my supervisor, Professor Dr Nguyễn Hoà for helping me complete this study This paper would not have been accomplished without his expert, constant and valuable guidance and encouragement His patience and helpful criticism helped me confidently express my ideas into this paper I also wish to express my sincere thanks to all my lecturers at the Faculty of Postgraduate Studies, University of Languages and International Studies for their valuable lectures which have helped me a great deal in gaining a lot of theoretical background as well as practical knowledge My special thanks also go to my friends and colleagues for their enthusiastic help and support with my working schedule at school which gave me precious time to deal with my thesis Finally, I would also like to express my deep gratitude and love to my family who gave me time and encouragement to overcome all obstacles during the completion of this study ABSTRACT In the light of CDA framework suggested by Norman Fairclough, this study attempts to uncover underlying discursive structures in Hillary Clinton‘s presidential campaign discourse The specific aim is to identify elements of gender references, persuasive techniques and social inclusion and exclusion The analysis shows that gender references are marked by implicitness, and Clinton performs both stereotypical masculine and feminine genders As for social inclusion and exclusion, Clinton‘s use of pronouns revealed her attitude towards her supporters and opponents According to the results, it might seem that Clinton‘s main purpose of her campaign discourses is to construct an image of herself as President of the United States of America, and additionally, she contributes to eliminating the boundaries of the historical perception of the American presidency in regards to gender TABLE OF CONTENTS DECLARATION i ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ii ABSTRACT iii TABLE OF CONTENTS iv LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS vi LIST OF TABLES AND FIGURES vii PART A: INTRODUCTION 1 Rationale Significance of the study Scope of the study Aims and objectives of the study Design of the study PART B: DEVELOPMENT .5 CHAPTER 1: THEORETICAL BACKGROUND 1.1 Hillary Clinton‘s background 1.2 An overview of CDA 1.2.1 History of CDA 1.2.2 What is Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA)? 1.3 Key concepts in CDA 1.3.1 Ideology .7 1.3.2 Power 1.4 Three principal approaches to CDA 1.4.1 The socio – cognitive approach by Teun van Dijk 1.4.2 The discourse – historical approach by Ruth Wodak 1.4.3 The dialectical - relational approach by Norman Fairclough 10 1.5 Review of previous studies 13 1.6 Five common features among the approaches 14 1.7 Systemic Functional Grammar (SFG) in CDA 15 1.8 Chapter summary 19 CHAPTER 2: METHODOLOGY AND ANALYTICAL PROCEDURES 20 2.1 Research questions restated 20 2 Methods of the study 20 2.3 Data of the study 21 2.4 Analysis procedure of the study 21 CHAPTER 3: A CRITICAL DISCOURSE ANALYSIS OF HILLARY CLINTON‟S SPEECH 23 3.1 Functions of Hillary Clinton‘s underlying ideology in the speech 23 3.1.1 Ideology as a weapon of positive self-representation of ―us‖ and negative other representation of ―them‖ 23 3.1.2 Ideology as a weapon of persuasion 26 3.1.3 Ideology as a weapon of negotiation 28 3.1.4 Ideology of personality profiling 30 3.2 Textual description and Analysis 31 3.2.1 Vocabulary use 31 3.2.2 Grammatical features 34 3.2.2.1 The use of personal pronouns 34 3.2.2.2 The use of voice 35 3.2.2.3 Modes of the sentence 36 3.2.2.4 Modality 37 3.2.2.5 Connective values of the text 39 3.2.3 Transitivity 43 3.2.4 Thematization 44 3.3 Interpretation of the relationship between the productive and interpretative processes53 3.4 Explanation of the relationship between discourse and social processes 54 3.5 Chapter summary 55 PART C: CONCLUSION 56 Summary of findings 56 Implications 57 Limitations of the study and Recommendations for further study 58 APPENDICES 61 LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS CDA Critical Discourse Analysis CL Critical Linguistics MR Members‘ Resources SFG Systemic Functional Grammar SFL Systemic Functional Linguistics LIST OF TABLES AND FIGURES Table 1: Overview of process type (Halliday, 1994:143) 17 Table 2: Components of a multiple theme (adapted from Halliday, 1994:54) 18 Table 3: Lexical items for ‗in – groups‘ and positive terms .32 Table 4: Lexical items for ‗out – groups‘ and negative terms 33 Table 5: Frequency of personal pronouns 35 Table 6: Summary of modes of the sentences 36 Table 7: Summary of relational modality 37 Table 8: Summary of expressive modality .38 Table 9: Summary of transitivity analysis data 43 Table 10: Summary of thematic analysis 44 Figure 1: Interpretation (Fairclough, 2001, p.119) 12 Figure 2: Explanation (Fairclough, 2001, p.136) 12 Figure 3: Aspects of interpersonal management (Thompson, 1996:69) 17 303 This Carrier Isn‘t Relational 302 Expanding childcare Carrier Is Relational 305 Declining marriage Carrier Is Relational Carrier Is Relational Relational rates 305 The unequal…incanceration 306 Helping more people… Carrier Is 308 Every family Actor Should feel Material 309 We Actor Should offer Material 311 We Actor Should ban Material 312 They Actor Can live Material 313 You Sensor Know Mental 313 America‘s….freedom Carrier Is 315 I Sensor Know Mental 315 I Actor Have seen Material 316 These Carrier Are Relational 317 That Carrier Is Relational 318 We Actor Have 320 No other country Carrier Is Relational 321 No other country Carrier Is Relational 324 No other country Carrier Is Relational 327 I Actor Will Material 328 You Actor Look over Material 328 You Sensor Can see Mental 330 I Actor Dedicated Material 332 I Actor Worked Material 334 Our brave men and Actor Come Material women Relational Material 335 I Actor Will see Material 335 They Actor Get Material 337 I Actor Have stood Material 338 I Carrier Was 339 I Sensor Know 339 We Carrier Have to be Relational 344 There Carrier Are Relational 344 There Carrier Is Relational 346 I Sensor Believe Mental 346 We Actor Exercise Material 349 We Sensor Know Mental 349 We Carrier Have to be Relational 350 That Carrier Is Relational 350 We Actor Have to win Material 351 It Actor Works Material 353 We Actor Have to stop Material 356 We Actor Need Material 358 I Actor Will support Material 360 I Actor Want to make Material 360 That Carrier Is 360 I Actor Have proposed Material 362 I Actor Will fight Material 365 We Actor Have to give Material 367 Government Actor Is never going to have Relational Mental Relational Material 367 It Carrier Has to be Relational 369 That Actor Means Material 369 Government agencies Actor Can serve Material 371 We Actor Need expertise 373 There Carrier Is 374 Silicon Valley Actor Cracked Material 375 Many states Actor Are pioneering Material 376 I Actor Want to help Material 377 We Actor Need Material 380 I Actor Will seek Material 381 I Actor Will stand Material 382 That Carrier Is 382 It Actor Was working Material 386 I Actor Will always Material 387 We Actor May differ Material 387 We Carrier Are Relational 387 We Actor Pick Material 387 We Actor Have Material 389 Our American family Carrier Is 389 We Actor Cherish Material 390 We Actor Have Material 392 People all over the Actor Have asked Material world Material Relational Relational Relational 395 That Carrier Is Relational 396 You Actor Lose Material 396 You Actor Could get Material 398 President Obama Actor Asked Material 398 I Actor Accepted Material 398 We Sensor Love Mental 399 That Carrier Is 400 We Actor Can win Relational Material 401 We Actor Can build Material 402 We Actor Can strengthen Material 403 We Actor Can defend Material 405 We Actor Can renew Material 406 We Actor Do Material 408 I Actor Want Material 413 It Carrier Is 413 We Actor Are going Material 415 I Actor Have spent Material 416 I Actor Am not stopping Material 417 You Sensor Know Mental 417 I Sensor Know Mental 417 I Actor Have seen Material 418 All our Presidents Actor Come into Material 419 We Actor Watch Material 420 I Carrier May not be Relational 420 I Carrier Will be Relational 423 You Actor Won‘t see 424 I Actor Have been coloring Relational Material Material 425 I Actor Am looking for Material 426 I Actor Am not running Material 427 I Carrier Want to be 429 I Actor Let Material 429 I Actor Won‘t get Material 430 Lord Sensor Know Mental 430 I Actor Have made Material 431 There Carrier Is Relational Relational 432 I Actor Haven‘t won Material 432 I Actor Fought Material 432 Leadership Actor Means Material 433 You Actor Have to push Material 435 I Sensor Think Mental 435 I Actor Have seen Material 435 I Actor Have been called Material 437 I Actor Got Material 438 I Carrier Was Relational 438 She Actor Never lets Material 439 Mom Actor Lived Material 439 She Actor Was teaching Material 440 I Actor Would come Material 442 She Actor Would remind Material 443 The odds Carrier Are Relational 443 The opposition Carrier Is Relational 444 I Sensor Can hear 444 Life Carrier Is Relational 444 It Carrier Is Relational 446 She Actor Lived Material 446 I Sensor Think about Mental 447 She Actor Witnessed Material 448 Americans Actor Refused Material 449 She Actor Was born Material 449 Women in America Actor Had Material 450 Congress Actor Passed Material 452 The story of America Carrier Is 453 It Actor Continues Mental Relational Material 453 New chapters Actor Are being written Material 454 All Actor Should have Material 456 We Carrier Are Relational 457 We Carrier Are Relational 458 We Actor Harness Material 460 I Actor Wish Material 460 My mother Carrier Could have been 460 I Actor Wish Material 460 She Actor Could have seen Material 461 I Actor Wish Material 461 She Actor Could have met Material 463 I Actor Wish Material 463 She Actor Could have seen Material 463 We Actor 464 You Actor Do Material 464 You Actor Reap Material 465 We Actor Don‘t leave Material 466 A father Actor Can tell Material 466 You Carrier Can be Relational 467 You Carrier Want to be Relational 468 God Sensor Bless Mental 468 God Sensor Bless Mental Relational Are going to build Material APPENDIX IV Thematic Analysis Line Theme It 11 President Type Topical Roosevelt‘s Four Interpersonal Markedness Unmarked Marked Freedoms 13 His legacy Topical Unmarked 14 One Textual Marked 16 That Topical Unmarked 16 They Topical Unmarked 19 President Roosevelt Interpersonal Marked 25 That Topical Unmarked 26 It Topical Unmarked 26 If Textual Marked 27 And Textual Marked 29 It Topical Unmarked 31 It Topical Unmarked 33 It Topical Unmarked 35 And Textual Marked 36 When Textual Marked 40 When Textual Marked 44 We Topical Unmarked 46 We Topical Unmarked 57 As Textual Marked 58 You Topical Unmarked 59 You Topical Unmarked 59 And Textual Marked 62 So Textual Marked 62 But Textual Marked 64 You Topical Unmarked 66 While Textual Marked 68 And Textual Marked 69 So Textual Marked 73 Prosperity Topical Unmarked 74 Democracy Topical Unmarked 75 Prosperity and democracy Topical Unmarked 76 You Topical Unmarked 79 America Interpersonal Marked 80 That Topical Unmarked 81 On Roosevelt Island Topical Marked 82 Each American and the country Topical Unmarked 83 I Topical Unmarked 95 I Topical Unmarked 96 Our country‘s challenges Topical Unmarked 98 For decades Topical Marked 99 Advances in technology and the Topical Unmarked rise of global trade 103 The final industry and many Topical Unmarked multi-national corporations 108 Our political system Topical Unmarked 109 And Textual Marked 112 Now Topical Marked 115 Our next President Topical Unmarked 116 And Textual Marked 118 At our best Topical Marked 118 We Topical Unmarked 119 We Topical Unmarked 120 But Textual Marked 122 Americans Topical Unmarked 123 Now Topical Marked 127 They Topical Marked 128 And Textual Marked 129 These Republicans Topical Marked 132 We Topical Unmarked 132 And Textual Marked 136 They Topical Unmarked 139 They Topical Unmarked 141 They Topical Unmarked 143 They Topical Unmarked 145 And Textual Marked 146 Fundamentally Topical Marked 147 What Topical Unmarked 149 Now Topical Marked 151 I Topical Unmarked 157 I Topical Unmarked 157 I Topical Unmarked 158 My mother Topical Unmarked 160 Her own parents Textual Marked 161 Years later Topical Marked 168 That Topical Unmarked 169 And Textual Marked 170 That Topical Unmarked 175 I Topical Unmarked 176 As a young girl Textual Marked 178 And later Textual Marked 181 My first job out of law school Topical Unmarked 181 I Topical Unmarked 185 As a leader of the Legal Textual Marked Services 186 And Textual Marked 188 In Arkansas Textual Marked 192 As Senator Textual Marked 195 It Topical Unmarked 197 There Topical Unmarked 199 Just weeks ago, Textual Marked 201 She Topical Unmarked 201 But Textual Marked 203 I Topical Unmarked 204 If Textual Marked 205 The first Textual Marked 209 The middle class Topical Unmarked 210 Growth and fairness Topical Unmarked 210 For lasting prosperity Textual Marked 213 I Topical Unmarked 215 But Textual Marked 217 We Topical Unmarked 219 There Topical Unmarked 222 There Topical Unmarked 224 There Topical Unmarked 225 We Topical Unmarked 227 In the coming weeks, Textual Marked 231 I Topical Unmarked 233 I Topical Unmarked 235 We Topical Unmarked 239 We Topical Unmarked 240 And Textual Marked 250 Now Topical Marked 252 We Topical Unmarked 252 Customers Interpersonal Unmarked 256 We Topical Unmarked 258 Now Topical Marked 260 That Topical Unmarked 262 And Textual Marked 263 Research Interpersonal Unmarked 265 In fact Topical Marked 266 One thing Topical Unmarked 269 Our country Topical Unmarked 271 So Textual Marked 278 Now Topical Marked 280 And Textual Marked 280 Parents Topical Unmarked 282 I Topical Unmarked 283 I Topical Unmarked 285 I Topical Unmarked 287 That Topical Unmarked 289 I Topical Unmarked 301 And Textual Marked 303 This Topical Unmarked 308 In America Topical Marked 309 So Textual Marked 311 And Textual Marked 315 I Topical Unmarked 316 And Textual Marked 318 So Textual Marked 320 No other country Topical Unmarked 321 No other country Topical Unmarked 324 No other country Topical Unmarked 327 As your President Textual Marked 331 And Textual Marked 334 And Textual Marked 337 I Topical Unmarked 337 I Topical Unmarked 340 Meeting today‘s global challenges Topical Unmarked 344 There Topical Unmarked 346 I Topical Unmarked 349 And Textual Marked 350 That Topical Unmarked 353 We Topical Unmarked 356 We Topical Unmarked 358 If Textual Marked 360 I Topical Unmarked 360 That Topical Unmarked 362 I Topical Unmarked 364 What part of democracy Topical Unmarked 365 No matter how Interpersonal Marked 367 Government Topical Unmarked 369 That Topical Unmarked 371 We Topical Unmarked 373 There Topical Unmarked 373 For Topical Marked 374 Silicon Valley Interpersonal Marked 375 Many states Topical Unmarked 376 I Topical Unmarked 377 To Topical Marked 380 Now Topical Marked 380 But Textual Marked 382 That Topical Unmarked 387 We Topical Unmarked 387 But Textual Marked 389 Like Topical Marked 392 People all over the world Topical Unmarked 395 Now Topical Marked 398 But Textual Marked 399 That Topical Unmarked 400 With that same spirit Topical Marked 401 We Topical Unmarked 402 We Topical Unmarked 403 We Topical Unmarked 405 And Textual Marked 406 If Textual Marked 408 I Topical Unmarked 413 It Topical Unmarked 415 But Textual Marked 416 And Textual Marked 417 I Topical Unmarked 418 All our Presidents Topical Unmarked 418 And Textual Marked 420 But Textual Marked 422 And Textual Marked 423 And Textual Marked 424 I Topical Unmarked 425 So Textual Marked 426 I Topical Unmarked 427 I Topical Unmarked 429 And Textual Marked 429 I Topical Unmarked 430 Lord Topical Unmarked 432 And Textual Marked 432 But Textual Marked 433 You Topical Unmarked 435 I Topical Unmarked 437 Like so much else in my life Topical Marked 438 When Textual Marked 439 In her later years Topical Marked 440 I Topical Unmarked 442 And Textual Marked 444 I Topical Unmarked 446 She Topical Unmarked 449 She Topical Unmarked 450 But Textual Marked 452 The story of America Topical Unmarked 452 And Textual Marked 453 New chapters Topical Unmarked 456 Not only because Textual Marked 460 I Topical Unmarked 460 I Topical Unmarked 461 I Topical Unmarked 463 I Topical Unmarked 465 Where Textual Marked 468 God Topical Unmarked 468 And Textual Marked ... through critical discourse analysis, the aim of this paper is firstly to conduct an analysis on appraising Hillary Clinton‘s Campaign Launch Speech from 2015 in order to analyze how she characterizes... researcher, Junling Wang (2010) used M .A. K Halliday‘s Systemic Functional Grammar in ? ?A Critical Discourse Analysis of Barack Obama‘s Speeches‖ in terms of three meta-functions: ideational functions,... individual clause It now can be seen that both CDA and SFL approach functionally to textual analysis through studying grammar and other aspects of language form, and they are systematically orientated