HEDGING IN POLITICAL DISCOURSE: BARACK OBAMA’S 2012 PRESIDENTIAL PRESS CONFERENCES
| Main Author: | Wahyu Kresnanto |
|---|---|
| Format: | PeerReviewed |
| Bahasa: | ind |
| Terbitan: |
, 2013
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: |
http://karya-ilmiah.um.ac.id/index.php/sastra-inggris/article/view/23949 |
Daftar Isi:
- ABSTRACT Kresnanto, W. 2012. Hedging in Political Discourse: Barack Obama’s 2012 Presidential Press Conferences. Thesis, English Department, Faculty of Letters, State University of Malang. Advisor: Dr. Yazid Basthomi, M.A. Keywords: Hedges, Hedging, Political Discourse, Rhetoric Hedging is described as a rhetorical strategy to save the face of the politicians. Experts have said that such a strategy can prevent a politician from being refuted in case of rhetorical failure. Since rhetoric is often understood as a weapon to win or to lose, no politicians want to risk themselves taking maneuvers in vulnerable circumstances. Politicians have to make themselves aware of the consequences of mass communication failure. As this point, hedges serve as means to successfully maintain circumspection of rhetoric. The present study aims to investigate Barack Obama’s employment of hedges in his 2012 presidential press conferences. It focuses on delineating the strategies and objectives of Obama’s hedges in both conspicuous and occluded ways. In connection to circumspection of rhetoric, Bruce’s hedging taxonomy (2010) is employed as a central starting point to analyze such a human behavior. Descriptive qualitative research methodology is taken as central framework to help generate reliable outcomes. The findings show that Obama employs 840 conspicuous hedges and 37 invisible hedges in 8 press conferences having been so far conducted by the White House. In accordance with the conspicuous hedging devices, Obama is found out to be greatly in favor of modality to create hedges. Such a device outnumbers the other hedging devices with the percentage of 46.93% (frequency: 382 hedges). As Obama engages with hedges, he appears to be vague, tentative, and not fully committed to the propositions. Pertinent to invisible hedging strategy, such a hedge is detected as Obama moves directly to evade the challenging issues in question answer sequences, employing strategies of topic-shift, generalization, and ignorance as well as a strategy to delegate answer to another party. A conclusive thought has been made that hedging in political discourse is mainly employed as avoidance strategy to save the face of the politicians. Hedges serve as rhetorical strategy to help a politician stay in a safe zone as hedges protect him or her from any forthcoming criticism in case of being wrong. A hedge also represents means to express indirect messages; which makes it demonstrate politeness strategy. The researcher would finally like to suggest some lines of future research: it would be vastly challenging to specifically start carrying out cross-linguistic studies in the way speakers employ hedges in different kinds of discourse and in different languages as well as diverse cultures.