TheAnalysisofDeixisandEmpathyinPragmatics-最新文档

1、The Analysis of Deixis and Empathy in Pragmatics:With the development of society , the criteria of select ing people in terms of their social com muni cative competence is increasingly high. It has even become an important one in selecting talentsin many fields.Speech,especially English speech, beca

2、use of its unique function in mass com muni catio n , is attracti ng more and more people s attention.However, the study of speech skillsis not deeply studied by scholars domestic. In this thesis , the subject of this study is Barack Hussein Obama svictory speech which was made in 2012 in Chicago wh

3、e n he won the preside nt electi on .It is clarified from two aspects. First , the function of deixis of “I” and “we in his speech, second , from the point of empathy to list how they can be fun cti oned in speech. It agrees that the above speech skills can help Obama make his speech more persuasive

4、 and attractive , and at the sametime others can also benefit from it.1 In troducti onBackgro und In troducti onSpeech, as a kind of art , owns its special charmespecially in today s political life. Accordingto Lucas(2004), speeches can be divided into 3 partsin formative, persuasive and cere monial

5、 speech. As forObama s victory speech , it s a p ersuasive one. The purpose of it is to change people s mind or behavior onsomething.In December21st 2012, Obamawon the victory again and became the 56th preside nt of America. He wins people satte nti on not only because he is a black preside nt, butb

6、ecause of his charmful speeches. It also ope ns a new field , for example, Xia ng Dajun (2009) an alysis Obama s victory speech from the point of pragmatics； Yang Nazhi (2010)explores the meaning of deixis in in terrelati on ships； Thispaper is writi ng from the perspective of pragmatics to analyze

7、the use of empathy and deixis in Obama s victory speech of 2012.2 Literature Review2.1 EmpathyThe orig inal explorati on of empathy is in aesthetics in Germa ny. First it means in teracti on of emotio n. Now it has more relationships with psychology , linguistics, etc.and attracts more linguists att

8、ention.From the point ofpsychology , empathy is the relational emotional experienee produced by feeling emotions. Japanese linguist Kuno2 first introduced empathy into linguistics. In his opinion , empathy means intimating degree of the relatio nship betwee n the described things and speaker interfe

9、red.He Ziran first introduced empathy intopragmatics in China8. He defines“in pragmatics empathymean sthe un dersta nding betwee n com muni cator , and they can image and understand each other ” . Thus , it is a problem of Parali nguistic but someth ing about social pragmatics,because it relates to

10、how speakers can express their minds to audie nee , and how liste ners put themselves in speakers position. Also , social pragmatics involves backgro und in formati on of society, culture andin terpers onal relati on ships. This ki nd of empathy mai nly meansboth com municators can respect each othe

11、rs emotion and put themselves in the opposite side , so that they can gain their expected effects(He Ziran , 1991 ) 10. RanYongping (1997) 10 thinks most interpersonal communications in most contexts ask people to consider questio ns from the opposite side of view or to un dersta nd or satisfy each

12、others dema nds.On esse nee, the basic aim of empathy is to realize a closer relati on ship and emotio n betwee n both speaker and listener , so that they can shorten the distanee between their minds , to build a harm onious relati on ship.2.2 Pers onal DeixisPersonal deixis also refer to pers onal

13、pronouns.According to Conno( 2004) 3 , personal deixis especially the first and the second person deixis， can be used toexpress interpersonalinteractionand level of involvementof differe nt people respectively. Alastair Penny cook(1994) 7 once said the deixis in political speech are complex, especia

14、llywhenexploring what they are referringto. For example , in Obama s victory speech , he uses“we a lot. It stands for all American people, or theaudienee on the scene. However, speakers will not express clearly what does this“ werefers to gen erally. What smore, the exploration of“I ” or“we in polit

15、icalspeech can help us get a better understanding of speakers aims of the speech. HeZiran puts forward that person deixis mean the name people call each other when communicating with others.9 Lyons in his book Semantics put forward the core of deixis is not always the core of speakers, sometimes it

16、can be changed. For example , the core of deixis can be liste ners , or eve n it can be non speakers and non liste ners.63 Empathy in Obama s Victory Speech3.1 Empathy Produced by Choos ing Pers onal DeixisRan Yongping thinks that the view of choosing personal deixis must infer expressi on , etc. Em

17、pathy of pers onal deixis main ly reflects that speakers and liste ners can decode Ian guage , so that it can ben efit liste ners.10 The appropriate use of deixis , especially whe n liste ners face is threatened ， can shorten the mental distance between speakers and listeners； or make them become mo

18、reintimate.93.1.1 Analysis of“we in Obama sVictory SpeechIn Obama s victory speech, the appearanee of “we has a high rate. The total numberof “we in this speechis 52. Biber (2009: 329) 1 infers that in pragmatics,deixis“we can be used in two kinds , they areinclusive-we , which means audienee are in

19、cluded； andexclusive-we , which audienee are excluded. The aim of this speech is to persuade others to believe Obama himself and his gover nment. He, as a new preside nt, has a greatdistanee and disparity with his audienee. In order to avoid a larger disparity , he uses more“we to shorten hisdistane

20、e with his audienee or even all the American people ineluding those who have opposite opinion with him. For one thing ， it ean shorten the distanee ， and unite all people ， blaek , white or yellow ； for the other , it can help save the faee of those people who are in in ferior positi ons.Lev inson e

21、all this phe nomenon Positive Polite nessStrategy.4 This ki nd of empathy is more effeetive andfriendly than“you”，the use of“we can be morepersuasive. Let s look at the following sentenees,That s why we do this. That s what polities can be.That s why eleetions matter. We have our own opinions.Each o

22、f us has deeply held beliefs. And when we go through tough times , whe n we make big deeisi ons as a country In this ease, all these “ we s are in elusive -we. That is to say that Obama all audienee and all American people are in eluded. Form the point of psychology, the moreattentionspeakers pay to

23、 the listeners , the easier it willbe for them to get closer , so that listeners can fuse themselves with speakers. It has a another funetion , which mea ns it can makes every America n feel that they are true owners of this country ； so that when the Obamagovernment seeks help all those people will

24、 be its firm supporters.We mayhave battled fiercely , but it s only because we love this country deeply and we care so stron gly about its future. From George to Lenore to their son Mitt, theRomney family has chose n to give back to America through public service and that is the legacy that we honor

25、 and applaud toni ght Romney to talk about where we can work together to move this country forward.In this case , there are 5“we in total. They allrefer to Obama and Romney. Though they belong to two parties , the “we s can unit them together and makethem a whole unity. First , it can help Obamsgain

26、 more support , for those who are loyal to Romneymayturn to support Obama. Second, it can help Obama get more followers in his new cab inet and elim in ate more blocks.3.1.2 An alysis of“ I in Obama s Victory SpeechThere is no doubt that , all “I” in this speech refer to Obama himself. The use of “

27、I ” can make people think more about the speaker. However, in such political speech, the speaker should avoid “ I ” as many as possible. It is easily to make people feel that he is too subjective. Butit can make audie nee feel the speaker is compete nt and persuasive. Here are some examples ,And whe

28、ther I earned your vote or not , I have listened to you, I have learned from youI return to the White House more determ ined and more in spired From this paragraph , there are four “I ” s in total.They all refer to Obama himself. First, it means Obamawants to tell the whole world he is back again, a

29、nd theowner of white house aga in. Second , he is going to take measures to keep his promises he once madeto America. Last , by using deixis , Obamahas a great chanee to put his theory and reform into his speech, so that he can gain more support from his people.I ve never been more hopeful about our

30、 future. I have never been more hopeful about America. And I ask you to sustain that hope. I m not talking about blind optimism I m not talking about the wishful idealism.From example 2, Obama says these words to his people.He says that he is optimistic to his people and his country ； he has enough

31、enthusiasm to do more contribution to his country. It can leave the American people an impression that he is not only a preside nt, but a liste ner to all.Whe n he refers to his attitude towards his people and the future of America , he uses “ I ” . It is easy to attract people s attention that he i

32、s a man who wishes to do all his best to serve the USA.3 Con clusi onPublic political speech competence is a specialcom muni cative ability. During this process, speakersshould treat his or her audie nee as the core of it. Whats more , as a speaker , he should com muni cate with audie nee. That is t

33、he most importa nt feature of empathy.In Obama s victory speech, he uses many skillsto realizeempathy. The most com mon one is the use of deixis“ weto tell the whole audience and whole American people that they are an un ity. As a preside nt , Obamahas his own glamour and personality , and his ability of speech is one powerful way of helping to get success.It can be concluded that Obama uses many “I” s when the things he refers to are about people s vit