美国总统竞选辩论中“our+N”的批评话语分析

A critical discourse study on the use of “our+N” in American presidential debates

基于批评话语分析理论,借助Landcx语料库检索软件对2016年美国总统竞选中的三场辩论进行统计分析,探讨了希拉里和特朗普在"our+N"使用上的差异。研究发现,希拉里、特朗普在"our+N"的使用方面存在较大差异,具体表现在:第一,希拉里更多呈现积极正面的国家形象,而特朗普使用大量负面评价词汇描述美国的现状;第二,希拉里倾向于展现自己的政治经验并凸显其在妇女、儿童权益保护方面取得的成就,特朗普则更加强调就业给美国民众带来的实际利益。第三,希拉里强调巩固盟友关系,维持国家稳定性,而特朗普强调改变,更多体现美国人的忧患意识。双方"our+N"使用差异的根本原因在于其政治主张以及所代表党派利益的不同。本研究有助于认识政治话语中人称代词使用所达到的语境效果,对观察和分析政治话语尤其是其话语构成成分的语用价值有一定的启示意义。

Based on critical discourse analysis theory, this paper makes a statistical analysis of the three debates in the 2016 US presidential campaign with the assistance of Landcx corpus retrieval software, and discusses the differences between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump in the use of “our + N”. The study finds that Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump are greatly different in the use of “our + N”, specifically reflected in: first, Hillary presents a more positive image of the country while Trump uses many negative words to describe the current situation in America;second, Hillary tends to show her political experience and emphasize her achievement in protecting the rights and interests of women and children whereas Trump puts more emphasis on practical benefits that employment brings to American people;third, Clinton emphasizes consolidating alliances and maintaining national stability, while Trump emphasizes change, which brings hopes to the American people who seem to be suffering anxiety and hardships. The significant difference in the use of personal pronouns of both candidates is a sign of their different stands, views and interests. This study is helpful to understand the contextual effects of personal pronouns in political discourse, and is of some significance for observing and analyzing the pragmatic value of political discourse, especially its discourse components.