This article examines whether the speeches given by Donald Trump after his election have become more presidential since his election campaign speeches in 2016. Four speeches, selected from both...Show moreThis article examines whether the speeches given by Donald Trump after his election have become more presidential since his election campaign speeches in 2016. Four speeches, selected from both before and after the 2016 elections, have been analysed and compared in two different ways. The speeches selected from before the elections were Trump’s announcement of his run for the presidency and his acceptance of the Republican nomination. The selection of post-election speeches consisted of the first speech Trump gave to a joint session of congress in his official appearance as president and his first official SOTU address. The first manner of comparison used Pennebaker et al’s (2007) Linguistic Inquiry and Word Count (LIWC) programme. The second manner of comparison analysed the speeches for their differences in their use of rhetorical and stylistic figures. The analysis showed that the speeches given by Trump before his 2016 election were less complex, more divisive and less positive than those given after his election. Furthermore, the analysis showed that the use of stylistic devices in the pre-election speeches was more focused on emphasising problems, whereas post-election they were used more to emphasise achievement and to embellish the speech itself. This suggests that there has been a visible change in style between the two periods, which indicates that Trump’s speeches have become more like those of his predecessors.Show less
Throughout the years populism has managed to take many forms. While not entirely a western phenomenon, with many prominent examples existing in Latin America and some in Africa, many of the most...Show moreThroughout the years populism has managed to take many forms. While not entirely a western phenomenon, with many prominent examples existing in Latin America and some in Africa, many of the most noteworthy examples were established in Western Europe. In more recent years this has taken shape in the form of parties led by people such as Marine Le Pen, Geert Wilders, Nigel Farage, and Pablo Iglesias. This resurgence is a relatively long time coming. Cas Mudde has warned for years that “populist discourse has become mainstream in the politics of western democracies” calling it a “populist zeitgeist” (2004). Recently, Donald Trump has become one of the most successful and most of all surprising examples of mainstream populism, but how does his language use differ from those before him? Many of populism’s core principles have managed to stay the same, while others have changed and adapted throughout the years depending on its leaders, the people it is directed to, and the political climate it is being implemented in. This paper will analyse the language aspect of two major populist figures of our time, namely Donald J. Trump and Nigel Farage. It will compare and contrast their use of language using rhetorical and register analysis, based on parameters founded in political discourse analysis. This paper will provide clear examples to illustrate these similarities and differences in rhetoric and style, and aims to establish a relationship between linguistic features and populist rhetoric.Show less
Although hip hop first set foot in South Korea 25 years ago, the genre has received exponential popularity over the last 5 years. Korean hip hop takes after its American counterpart in many ways,...Show moreAlthough hip hop first set foot in South Korea 25 years ago, the genre has received exponential popularity over the last 5 years. Korean hip hop takes after its American counterpart in many ways, including the use of the English language. Within the Korean hip hop scene there are many ethnical Koreans that were American born, or lived in America for years. These ethnical Koreans are fluent in Korean as well as English. So how does the English use of these Koreans compare to the English use of hip hop artist that are only fluent in Korean in terms of vocabulary or slang, poetic devices, grammatical preferences and frequency? This paper will analyze Korean hip hop lyrics by both artists that speak fluent Korean and English as well as artists that speak only fluent Korean. Through register analysis and literary analysis this paper will quantitatively determine the differences between English usages of the two groups. This paper provides numeric data as well as examples that show that these differences in proficiency level are also apparent in relatively short texts like song lyrics. In this way this research will assess differences in English use between Korean English bilinguals and Korean monolinguals.Show less
