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M.A. (Communication) / The two research questions explored in this study are: a) What is the potential effectiveness of Mandela's rhetorical choices in the light of the primary and media audiences and the situation, in the selected speeches and visual material? b) What rhetorical shifts occurred in the speeches delivered between 1990 and 1994? In view of the fact that this study is political in nature and falls within the parameters of political communication, the field of political communication as it relates to rhetoric and public speaking specifically, was discussed. The nucleus of Aristotle's theory of rhetoric was discussed in conjunction with modern theories and research, with the purpose of establishing theoretical grounds for effective political oratory. To explore the two research questions, the neo-Aristotelian model of rhetorical criticism was utilised. By using this model it was possible to measure the effectiveness or potential effectiveness of Nelson Mandela's choice of strategy in the series of speeches and visual material selected. The model also prescribes a methodology whereby the important variables in political oratory are measured, including language, the credibility of the speaker, emotional strategies, logical argumentation, organisation and nonverbal behaviour. For purposes of evaluation the model prescribes an ideal model of persuasion. The ancient and modern rhetorical theory discussed in the study was utilised to construct standards by which Mandela's speeches were evaluated. The model also enabled the critic to focus on the speaker, Nelson Mandela and his political messages, while considering the rhetorical transaction, including the audiences and situation as a whole. The primary audience considered in this study consists of the mainly black supporters of the ANC who received Mandela's political messages at mass rallies. It was determined that this audience had a positive orientation towards the speaker, his messages and the ANC. Important national media audiences were also fsolated and include Whites, Indians, Coloureds, the IFP and the PAC. These audiences maintained a more negative orientation towards the speaker, his messages and the ANC. The international community in general was also considered.

This dissertation is an ethnographic study of institutional politics in postcolonial societies, in this case, contemporary Mali. It examines the ways in which transitions to democracy have transformed everyday politics not only through the creation of new institutional arrangements, but through the promotion of new understandings of social and political authority. In particular, this research examines the expectations that democratic institutions place on political deliberation and public speech, as well as the multiple ways in which democratic political speech has failed to fulfill those expectations. To address these questions, it combines Linguistic and Political Anthropology in the analysis of everyday discussions that took place in institutions of political representation in contemporary Mali—from the National Assembly to local councils and party meetings. This linguistic evidence was collected during fifteen months of fieldwork in Bamako and Kita, Mali, in 2010, 2011, and 2012. Each chapter is centered on one of the various categories that mediate the relationship between political speech and action—such as authority, representation, and intention. My analyses of discursive patterns within the specific political context of Mali lays bare an oscillation between a serious engagement with democratic political discussion on the one hand, and its rejection through expressions of suspicion and disbelief on the other. Drawing on J. L. Austin’s speech act theory, I argue that democratic political speech suffers “infelicity,” or a recurrent difficulty in authenticating formal political speech and investing it with added performative force.

This thesis examines the manner in which Ronald Reagan responded to the Tower Commission Report concerning his involvement in the Iran-Contra Affair. It explores the following questions: 1) What were the factors leading to a rhetorical situation as defined by the media and which required Ronald Reagan to provide a public response of self-defense; 2) what strategies of apologia did Reagan employ; and 3) how did the media and the White House characterize the outcome of Reagan's speech? Data for analysis were drawn from nationally recognized newspapers that shaped public perception of the Iran-Contra Affair: The Washington Post, The New York Times, Los Angeles Times, and The Christian Science Monitor. In addition, The Tower Commission Report and Ronald Reagan's March 4, 1987 speech were used as primary texts. It was found that the events of the Iran-Contra Affair qualified as a crisis, and exemplified an exigence needing a response. The thesis demonstrated that the Iran-contra Affair was an appropriate case for study as a rhetorical situation. Analysis demonstrates how Ronald Reagan made full use of the conventional apologetic strategies of denial, bolstering, differentiation, and transcendence to regain lost credibility; moreover, analysis provides further evidence of the utility of genre criticism.

The purpose of this study is to investigate the rhetorical strategies used by Reverend Jesse L. Jackson from the 1970's to the 1990's. Specifically, this study examines Jackson's use of narrative to empower himself, his constituency, and his political ideologies without possessing a traditional political platform. Jackson raised political and social consciousness regarding the positions he held by telling persuasive, strategically constructed narratives. By examining Jackson's narrated approach to politics, arguments can be constructed to demonstrate how Jackson rhetorically operates from an unorthodox platform in the political arena. A functionalist view of narrative, as defined by Lucaites and Condit (1985), is applied to Jackson's 1984, 1988, and 1992 Democratic National Convention addresses in order to account for "tangible" objectives being carried out by the narrative discourse form. In doing so, the study argues that Jackson's narratives initially functioned: to empower Jackson and the Rainbow Coalition; to bolster public approval ratings of Jackson from 30% to 54%; and later to promote Statehood for Washington D.C. / Graduation date: 1994

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Georgia State University, 2006. / Title from title screen. Mary E. Stuckey, committee chair; Michael Binford, James Dearsey, David Cheshier, Carol K. Winkler, committee members. Electronic text (287 p.). Description based on contents viewed Apr. 26, 2007. Includes bibliographical references (p. 262-287).

Can the political eloquence of Louis-Joseph Papineau, one of the great Canadian orators of the nineteenth century, be revived? There are still no significant studies on the logic of argumentation or on the image of a certain representation of the political crisis set by the orations of the Honorable Speaker of the House of Assembly of Lower-Canada. The following thesis focuses on Louis-Joseph Papineau's political discourses of 1830-1837. By the analysis of the representations and the reasonings, of the argumentation, of the rhetorical functions fulfilled by the discourses and also by the analysis of the social vectors at work in these, this document establishes landmarks and proposes a topographical outlook of Papineau's political rhetoric. It seek;s to show the topic organisation and functioning of this rhetoric, in a nineteenth century setting of oratorical and political culture.

Zugl.: Paris, Univ. de Paris-Sorbonne (Paris IV), Diss., 2004

Thesis (Ph. D. in History)--Vanderbilt University, Aug. 2005. / Title from title screen. Includes bibliographical references.