This thesis analyzes how Vladimir Putin uses ethos and pathos to justify his foreign policy in Syria, Donbas and Crimea. To answer this question, 27 of his original Russian speeches on these topics...Show moreThis thesis analyzes how Vladimir Putin uses ethos and pathos to justify his foreign policy in Syria, Donbas and Crimea. To answer this question, 27 of his original Russian speeches on these topics have been subjected to a Critical Discourse Analysis, engaging with the insights of ancient and contemporary rhetoric scholars. The results show that Putin consistently weaves three narratives that run like a thread through his speeches. First, Putin presents himself as a kind, intelligent, and respectful leader who has an adequate amount of experience and supports the people. Second, Putin persistently shows that Russia only has good intentions for the world. Last, Russia finally stands up for its interests after years of suppression and humiliation by the hypocrite West. These results not just illustrate the rhetorical techniques that underlay Putin’s account of Russia’s foreign policy. They also provide an insight into the worldview of the vast majority of Russians because of a media monopoly of the Kremlin. As such, this thesis contributes to a growing corpus of research that emphasizes how Putin’s words are of importance.Show less
This research has investigated the classical rhetorical concept of ‘ethos’. While the notion of ethos has been recognised and studied since Classical Antiquity, there has been a lack of...Show moreThis research has investigated the classical rhetorical concept of ‘ethos’. While the notion of ethos has been recognised and studied since Classical Antiquity, there has been a lack of methodological means to identify and evaluate specific ethos-techniques. In addition, various terminologies have been used interchangeably to describe ‘ethos’, which has led to confusion. This study has addressed both issues by investigating classical and modern notions of ethos. Conclusively, this research has broken down the concept of ethos into the term ‘invented ethos’ (also called ‘persona’) and ‘reputation’ (also called ‘situated ethos’). Accordingly, a new method was developed to determine one’s reputation, identify ethos-techniques in one’s speeches, and evaluate one’s overall ethos. As a means to test this new model, a case study was conducted of two Dutch, relatively young politicians – Thierry Baudet and Jesse Klaver – who, as new party leaders, despite their young age and relative lack of experience, won a significant number of seats for their parties, in the Dutch House of Representatives in the 2017 elections. The corpus consisted of four speeches: two speeches of each politician. The analysis suggested that Baudet scores high when it comes to his expertise, but lower on sympathy and reliability. This can be explained by the fact that, contrary to the classical and modern advice, Baudet is not very modest and uses complex language. Klaver on the other hand, scores high on sympathy, low on reliability, and average on expertise. Looking at the total scores, the theorised ethos-advices were mostly reflected in Klavers’ speeches, who also had the highest reputation score. The analysis further showed that the two politicians maintain similar ethos-aims. They are both portraying themselves as the underdogs: outsiders who are part of the public and who are fighting the political elite. Still, certain unexplored ethos-techniques were employed by both politicians. Most prominently, both make significant use of ‘namedropping’, yet with a different result. Baudet’s namedropping of inter alia literary authors and classical music, seems to be aimed at underlining his expertise, which is also stressed by his use of flowery and grandiloquent language. Contrarily, Klaver seems to employ namedropping of famous (Dutch) persons, in order to put more emphasis on his popularity and likeability, which is also supported by his more conversational tone and his casual look. Nevertheless, Baudet’s and Klaver’s growing ethos and overall popularity suggests that lack of experience of expertise is not that important. Future research is recommended to further assess the effects of self-praising, self-mockery, and namedropping, on one’s ethos. KEYWORDS: Ethos, Credibility, Reputation, Rhetoric, PoliticsShow less
