的解释性和实用性,有利于帮助演讲者增强演讲效果,并与听众建立和谐的关系。
关键词:礼貌原则;政治演讲;巴拉克·奥巴马演讲
Contents
Abstract i
摘要 ii
Introduction 1
1. Obama's Speech and Its Reviews 1
1.1 Obama's Speech and Its Background 2
1.2 Reviews on Obama's Speech 2
1.3 Politeness in Political Speech 3
2. Leech's Politeness Theory 4
2.1 Tact Maxim 5
2.2 Generosity Maxim 5
2.3 Approbation Maxim 6
2.4 Modesty Maxim 6
2.5 Agreement Maxim 7
2.6 Sympathy Maxim 7
3. Pragmatic Analysis of Obama's Speech in Terms of the Politeness Principles 8
3.1 Pragmatic Effects of Tact Maxim in Obama's Speech 8
3.2 Pragmatic Effects of Generosity Maxim in Obama's Speech 9
3.3 Pragmatic Effects of Approbation Maxim in Obama's Speech 10
3.4 Pragmatic Effects of Modesty Maxim in Obama's Speech 12
3.5 Pragmatic Effects of Agreement Maxim in Obama's Speech 12
3.6 Pragmatic Effects of Sympathy Maxim in Obama's Speech 13
Conclusion 14
Acknowledgements 15
Endnotes 16
References 17
Introduction
Public speech is an important social activity. In order to achieve the designed effect, the speaker declares their opinions, expresses their emotions, and influences the audience. President Barack Obama is a good speaker. His speeches have distinctive political features and are rich in the politeness' words. So, the thesis attempts to analyze the politeness' phenomenon in Obama's Speech at the Town Hall Meeting in Shanghai from the perspective of pragmatics, based on the politeness theory. Through the analysis, we can know the pragmatic effects of the Politeness Principle in Obama's Speech at the Town Hall Meeting in Shanghai.
Politeness phenomenon is a very important branch of pragmatics. Many scholars home and abroad have done plenty of research into this phenomenon from different perspectives. For example, Grice proposes Cooperative Principle,1 Lakoff establishes rules of politeness.2 Face Threatening Acts and politeness strategies are proposed by Brown and Levinson.3 Leech's Politeness Principle is composed of principles and maxims which the two parties of communication should follow.4 Based upon the research done by Leech, Chinese scholars Gu Yueguo proposes the Politeness Maxims, which conform to Chinese characteristics and the linguistic reality in the mainland of China.5 In addition, Xu Shenghuan revises the Politeness Principle to explain politeness phenomena in language use.6
Politeness is the symbol of civilization society, and is also a basic conduct of human beings' communication. As a universal phenomenon, it plays a very important role in establishing and maintaining the good relationship. People could cross the boundaries of countries, nations and races to successfully communicate through the appropriate use of polite language.
The research helps Chinese learners to grasp the usage of language, and the knowledge of American society and culture. As the native speaker, President Obama uses the native formal language. The analysis of his speech can threw a light on the understanding how the native speaker says, how to appropriately use language, and which features the speech has. The study on Obama's speech opens the window for Chinese students to know the American and western culture, and is useful to improve their abilities of cross-cultural communicat