Australian political discourse: Pronominal choice in campaign speeches

Abstract

The intention behind language used by candidates during an election campaign is to persuade voters to vote for a particular political party. Fundamental to the political arena is construction of identity, group membership and ways of talking about self, others, and the polarizing categories of us and them. This paper will investigate the pragmatics of pronominal choice and the way in which politicians construct and convey their own identities and those of their parties and opponents within political speeches. Taking six speeches by John Howard and Mark Latham across the course of the 2004 federal election campaign I look at the ways in which pronominal choice indicates a shifting scope of reference to create pragmatic effects and serve political functions.

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