科技信息SCIENCE&TECHNOLOGYINFORMATION2011年第11期
AnalysisonRhetoricinPresidentBarack
Obama’sSpeech
美国总统奥巴马演讲词修辞格分析
王钰潼
（黑龙江八一农垦大学黑龙江大庆163319）
【Abstract】Underthegreatbackgroundofglobalizationtoday,communicationsbetweenChinaandAmericaaremorefrequent,itbecomes
significantforustogainadeeperunderstandingofAmericanpresidents'speech.Obamaservesasanexampleforustostudyinthisaspect.Until
now,mostpeoplehavebeenstudyinghisspeechmainlythrougheitherChinesetranslationsofhisspeechesorinterpretationsbythemedia,conducted
throughperspectiveswhicharebynomeansrhetoricallyinformed.Consideringthefactthatwhatwearedealingwithispoliticalspeech,itishigh
timethattherhetoricalperspectivebeintroducedintotheprocessofinterpretingObama'spoliticalcommunicationinitsoriginalcontext.Sucha
perspectivewillhelpusobtainabetterapproachofinterpretinghisspeech.Thisthesishaswidelyselectedthetypicalpoliticalspeechesofpresident
ObamainhisElectionCampaignprocess,andanalyzedthreemainrhetoricalmethodsinpoliticalspeech:simile,metaphorandmetonymy.
Figureofspeechisanexpressionthatdepartsfromtheacceptedliteralsenseorfromthenormalorderofwords,orinwhichanemphasisis
producedbypatternsofsound.Itisanespeciallyimportantresourceofpoetry;itisalsoconstantlypresentinallotherkindsofspeechandwriting.
Thefigureofspeechiscommonlyusedinpoliticalspeech.InthispartofthethesistheauthorwillanalyzethreemaintypesoffiguresinObama’s
speech:Simile,metonymyandMetaphor.
【Keywords】Obama；Speech；Rhetoricalanalysis
Asimileisafigureofspeechthatindirectlycomparestwodifferent
thingsbyemployingthewords“like”,“as”,or“than”.Eventhough
similesandmetaphorsarebothformsofcomparison,similesindirectly
comparethetwoideasandallowthemtoremaindistinctinspiteoftheir
similarities.Theword“simile”camefromLatinword“similis”,itmeans
“like”or“asif”,theuseofthisfigureinEnglishisalmostthesameasit
isusedinChinese.SimileisfrequentlyusedinObama’sspeech:
(1)...Americathatshoneasabeaconoffreedomandopportunityto
somanywhohadcomebefore.
(2)…Cuttingthedeficitbyguttingourinvestmentsininnovation
andeducationarelikelighteninganoverloadedairplanebyremovingits
engine.Itmayfeellikeyou’reflyinghighatfirst,butitwon’ttakelong
beforeyou’llfeeltheimpact.
Bytakingtwothingsthatdon'thavemuchincommonandputting
themtogether,thesimileforcesustoimaginethesituationinmorevivid
andunconventionalways.Theexaggerationinherentinmostsimilesalso
addsacertainforcetothecomparison,andmakesusfeelthepowerof
thethingorcharacteristicbeingcompared.
Inthespeechmetaphorisoftenusedbythepoliticianstomaketheir
speechesmoreconvincing,presidentObamaisofcoursenotan
exception.Singleconceptualmetaphorcanalsoaccountforthesemantic
coherenceofawholetextandthisisevidentfromananalysisofObama's
inauguraladdress.
(3)...therockofourfamilyandtheloveofmylife,ournation'snext
firstlady,MichelleObama.
(4)Theaudacityofhop,Intheend,thatisGod'sgreatestgifttous,
thebedrockofthisnation.
Fromtheaboveexampleswecanfindthatmetaphorcanmake
abstractthingsbecomespecific.Fromtheanalysisitisclearthatthe
sourcedomainsarecloselyrelatedtoourdailylifeandexperiencewhich
makethesemetaphorsunderstandableandpersuasive.Politicalmetaphors
havesuchfunctionsasfiltering,persuasion,motivation,simplificationand
bridge.Metaphorsaredeeplyrootedinpeople'sexperienceandtheAmericanculture.Therefore,itisnotdifficulttoappealtotheemotions
oftheAmericanssoastohaveabetterunderstandingofthepoliciesof
thepoliticians.
Metonymymayalsobeinstructivelycontrastedwithmetaphor.Both
figuresinvolvethesubstitutionofonetermforanother.Inmetaphor,this
substitutionisbasedonsomespecificsimilarity,whereas,inmetonymy,
thesubstitutionisbasedonsomeunderstoodassociation.Thespecial
structureofthisfiguremakesitpossibleforspeakerstomakehisspeech
simpleandvivid.Therearesomeexamplesbelow.
(5)...it'sthatwecannothaveathrivingWallStreetwhileMainStreet
suffers.
(6)Itstheanswertoldbylinesthatstretchedaroundschoolsand
churchesinnumbersthisnationhasneverseen…
InthesetwoexampleObamausespecialsubjecttorepresentcertain
groupofpeopleororganization.Inexample(5),WallStreetsymbolized
greatfinancialgroupwhileMainStreetrepresentsmallbusinessowner.
Inexample(6),“linesthatstretchedaroundschoolsandchurches”
symbolizedthepollingstationwherepeoplecanvote.Thiskindoffigure
makesthespeecheasiertounderstandandtransfermoreinformationwith
fewerwords.
Aswecanseemetonymy,traditionallyseenasafigureofspeech,
actuallyisakindofcognitivemechanismbywhichpeopleconnectone
thingintheworldtoanotherandthisabilityofassociationhelpspeople
drawinferenceseasilyfromimplicitconversations.Metonymyaswellas
theformertwofiguresisfrequentlyusedtoachieveaneffectofpolishing
thespeech.
Fromtheaboveanalysiswecanseeusingrhetoricdevicesproperly
cannotonlypersuadeandencouragetheaudienceeffectivelyand
increasetheappealofpublicspeech,butalsogaingreatvehemenceof
thespeechandfinallymakethespeechhasasenseofhistory.
［责任编辑：常鹏飞］○外语论坛○250
