Understanding Donald J. Trump. Comprehensive analysis of the political discourse created by the use of rhetoric on Twitter (2015–2021)

• Authors: Agnieszka Homańska

Abstracts

EN

This paper aims to explore the correlation between rhetoric, political views, and actions and how the construction of utterances conveys ideological meaning. Specifically, I examine the nature of rhetoric, its structure, and its impact on the overall tone of an utterance. The analysis reveals that rhetorical devices can manipulate and create messages promoting segregation and discrimination. To illustrate this, I focus on D. Trump’s statements, particularly his use of Twitter to communicate. I analyze his selection of vocabulary and figures of speech, demonstrating his use of hate speech and misogynistic and racist thoughts. Drawing on the work of prominent linguists such as T. Van Dijk, R. Harris, and M. Reisigl, I examine the rhetorical devices used by Trump and their influence on the overall message conveyed. I support the analysis with press publications, articles, and books that provide further insight into Trump’s language use. The conclusions summarize my findings and emphasize the link between rhetoric and political actions and views.

Keywords

EN

rhetoric; discourse; president; Donald Trump; discrimination; populism

• Publisher: Wydawnictwo Adam Marszałek
• Journal: Reality of Politics
• Year: 2023
• Issue: 24
• Pages: 28-44

Dates

published

2023

Contributors

author

Agnieszka Homańska

• University of Warsaw

• https://orcid.org/0000000322737903

References

• Amaglobeli, G. (2018). Types of Political Discourses and Their Classification. Journal of Education in Black Sea Region, 3(1).
• Beneviste, E. (1959). Les relations de temps dans le verbe français. Bulletin de la Société de linguistique de Paris, LIV, pp. 69–82.
• Ciesek, B. (2015). Dyskursy dyskryminacji i tolerancji we współczesnej polskiej przestrzeni publicznej: (wartości, postawy, strategie). PhD Paper Katowice: Uniwersytet Śląski.
• Curtis, W. M. (2015). Hate speech. Retrieved from: https://www.britannica.com/topic/hate-speech.
• Darweesh, A. D., & Abdullah, N. M. (2016). A Critical Discourse Analysis of Donald Trump’s Sexist Ideology. Journal of Education and Practice, 7(3), pp. 87–94.
• Douglass, R. D. (1971). Arystotelesowska koncepcja komunikacji retorycznej. Pamiętnik literacki, LXVIII.
• Duignan, B. (2021). Donald Trump president of the United States. Retrieved from: https://www.britannica.com/biography/Donald-Trump.
• Duszak, A. (1998). Tekst, dyskurs, komunikacja międzykulturowa. Warszawa: Wydawnictwa Uniwersytetu Warszawskiego.
• Encyklopedia językoznawstwa ogólnego (1999). Wrocław: Zakład Narodowy im. Ossolińskich.
• Harris, R. A. (2010). A handbook of Rhetorical Devices.
• Https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/351135384362692608.
• LiteraryDevices Editors (2021). Figures of speech. LiteraryDevices.net. Retrieved from: https://literarydevices.net/figure-of-speech/.
• Mamcarz-Plisiecki, A. (2018). Retoryka i językoznawstwo – obszary spotkania. Roczniki humanistyczne, LXVI.
• Marszałek-Kawa, J., Plecka, D. (ed). (2019). The Dictionary of Political Knowledge. Toruń: Wydawnictwo Adam Marszałek.
• McIntire, M., Yourish, K., Buchanan, L. (2019). In Trump’s Twitter Feed: Conspiracy Mongers, Racists and Spies. New York Times. Retrieved from: https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2019/11/02/us/politics/trump-twitter-disinformation.html.
• Permanent suspension of @realDonaldTrump. Twitter. Retrieved from: https://blog.twitter.com/en_us/topics/company/2020/suspension.
• Polański, K. (1999). Encyklopedia Językoznawstwa Ogólnego. Zakład Narodowy im. Ossolińskich.
• Roberts, T., & Oborne, P. (2017). How Trump Thinks. Head of Zeus.
• Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. First published Tue Jul 3, 2007; substantive revision Thu Sep 24, 2020. “Speech acts”. Retrieved from: https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/speech-acts/.
• Tankovska, H. (2021). Countries with the most Twitter users 2021. Statista. Retrieved from: https://www.statista.com/statistics/242606/number-of-active-twitter-users-inselected-countries/.
• The Real Story of ‘Fake News’ The term seems to have emerged around the end of the 19th century. Merriam – Webster dictionary. Retrieved from: https://www.merriamwebster.com/words-at-play/the-real-story-of-fake-news.
• Trump Twitter Archive V2. Retrieved from: https://www.thetrumparchive.com/.
• Trump: Hillary Clinton ‘Worst Secretary of State’ In U.S. History (2015). NBC NEWS. Retrieved from: https://www.nbcnews.com/video/trump-hillary-clintonworst-secretary-of-state-in-u-s-history-480136259729.
• Van Dijk, T. A. (2002). Political discourse and ideology. Retrieved from: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/238523472_Political_discourse_and_ideology.
• Vazquez, M., Hickey, Ch., Krishnakumar, P., & Boschma, J. (30.04.2021). Donald Trump’s presidency by the numbers. CNN. Retrieved from: https://edition.cnn.com/2020/12/18/politics/trump-presidency-by-the-numbers/index.html.
• Vickers, A. (1988). “The Atrophy of Modern Rhetoric”. Vico to De Man Rhetorica., no. 1, 26. In: Mamcarz-Plisiecki A. (2018) “Retoryka i językoznawstwo – obszary spotkania”. Roczniki humanistyczne. Tom LXVI.
• Viennot, B. (2019). La langue de Trump. Paris: Les arènes.
• Vietnam War U.S. Military Fatal Casualty Statistics (2019). Retrieved from: https://www.archives.gov/research/military/vietnam-war/casualty-statistics.

Identifiers

DOI

10.15804/rop2023202

Biblioteka Nauki

9195741