Saturday, December 07, 2024

The Power of Words: A Frenchwoman's Detective Work on Donald Trump and His Choice of Language

Over at France's semiology website, Elodie Mielczareck gets into some detective work to examine Donald Trump's choice of words and, indeed, compare them with that of Kamala Harris. Notably three departments:

• the semantic aspects: frequency of words and their symbolic scope; 
• the rhetorical style: which figures of speech are used, which tone, what effects; 
• pragmatic linguistics: which specific speech actions are used

We learn about the art of repetition and amplification in Trump's speeches along with his warlike strategy, contrasted with Kamala's autobiographical speech and her rhetoric of hope

Using John Searle's philosophy of language, Elodie Mielczareck further contrasts Trump's vision of a conflicted world with Kamala's attempts at pragmatic engagement.

• les aspects sémantiques : fréquence des mots et leur portée symbolique;
• le style rhétorique : quelles figures de styles, quelle tonalité, quels effets ;
• la linguistique pragmatique : quels actes de langage en particulier ;

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