The study set out to construct a rhetorical imprint of Nelson Mandela as reflected in a
combination of all, as well as selected publicly available speeches from 1950 to 2004. The
rhetorical imprint refers to constant, underlying patterns of distinctive, verbal characteristics
that support the content of numerous speeches in different contexts (Burgchardt, 1985: 441).
The rhetorical imprint is conceptualised in pragmatic constructivist terms to be the product of
the conceptual categories of the mind, which are intrinsically metaphorically structured
(Lakoff & Johnson, 1980: 7). Since conceptual categories cannot be directly observed,
evidence of the particular conceptual categories which governed Nelson Mandelaâs rhetorical
imprint was sought in the rhetoric itself. The rhetorical imprint functions at both the manifest
and latent levels of meaning. In this study, the researcher accessed the surface-level patterns
through quantitative, computer-aided content analysis, while the very fact that the individual
conceptual system was considered metaphorical suggested the use of metaphorical concepts
as qualitative tool in order to access the deeply embedded content of the conceptual
categories which were most influential on the rhetorical imprint.
The rhetorical imprint was finally synthesised from the qualitative and quantitative data in
terms of the general characteristics of the rhetoric, the cognitive complexity and the
conceptual structure of the rhetorical imprint, which consists of transcending conceptual
motifs and sub-ordinate themes. Mandelaâs rhetoric was also contextualised against his
biographical background and ethos, as well as against the overall rhetorical situation, which
include the socio-political context as controlling need or exigency, a consideration of the
rhetorical audiences and constraints on the rhetor.
Mandelaâs rhetoric was found to be complex, with sophisticated vocabulary use and
conceptual structuring. The rhetorical complexity indicates a rhetor who is cognitively
complex and able to adapt his rhetoric to the nuances of different audiences and contexts.
Mandelaâs rhetoric further indicates a definite evolution from sub-corpus to sub-corpus. It
was found that the controlling concern of the struggle period revolved around aspects of
struggle, while the liberation sub-corpus signified a focus on aspects of the political
transition. The presidential period focused on reconciliation and reconstruction and the postpresidential
sub-corpus indicates a preoccupation with the issue of HIV/AIDS. The most dominant conceptual motif at the core of Mandelaâs rhetorical imprint was found to
be his use of the archetypal JOURNEY source domain in metaphorical concepts to
conceptualise the controlling concerns throughout the entire corpus. The JOURNEY motif is
accompanied by a forward-looking orientation where future paths and destinations are
optimistically envisioned. The source domains war and building/structure are also
prominent, although subordinate to JOURNEY. The metaphorical concepts related to
JOURNEY are based on the mega-metaphorical concept LIFE IS A JOURNEY, while war
is derived from LIFE IS A STRUGGLE FOR SURVIVAL and building/structure is based
on ABSTRACT COMPLEX SYSTEMS ARE BUILDINGS. These mega-metaphorical
concepts interact and indicate that Mandelaâs individual construal system and rhetoric are
fundamentally structured by the notion of a PERILOUS SYMBOLIC JOURNEY, which is
the rhetorical imprint, and that all metaphorical concepts discovered in his rhetoric are
subsumed in this configuration
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:netd.ac.za/oai:union.ndltd.org:ufs/oai:etd.uovs.ac.za:etd-11102011-143416 |
| Date | 10 November 2011 |
| Creators | Cawood, Stephanie |
| Contributors | Prof HJ Breytenbach, Prof JC de Wet |
| Publisher | University of the Free State |
| Source Sets | South African National ETD Portal |
| Language | en-uk |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Source | http://etd.uovs.ac.za//theses/available/etd-11102011-143416/restricted/ |
| Rights | unrestricted, I hereby certify that, if appropriate, I have obtained and attached hereto a written permission statement from the owner(s) of each third party copyrighted matter to be included in my thesis, dissertation, or project report, allowing distribution as specified below. I certify that the version I submitted is the same as that approved by my advisory committee. I hereby grant to University Free State or its agents the non-exclusive license to archive and make accessible, under the conditions specified below, my thesis, dissertation, or project report in whole or in part in all forms of media, now or hereafter known. I retain all other ownership rights to the copyright of the thesis, dissertation or project report. I also retain the right to use in future works (such as articles or books) all or part of this thesis, dissertation, or project report. |
Page generated in 0.09 seconds