Abstract | George Lakoff, one of the most prominent modern linguists, brought forth a new approach to political rhetoric, which many of the politicians took advantage of while forming their campaigns. He suggested that, in order to be a persuasive candidate of either the Republican or Democratic party, one has the assume the role of either the strict father for the former, or the nurturant parent for the latter. This can be done through the careful formation of distinct rhetorics through the power of frames, i.e. simplified mental images which help humans understand and react to their surroundings. Since nonverbal communication is even more important for the audience while receiveing a message from the speaker, the aim of this thesis was to explore whether the rhetorics of the Lakoffian parental figures are translated into body language of the contemporary politicial figures, and how does this emulation benefit or harm them in the attempt to gain the trust of their voters. The politicians chosen for this study were Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton, presidential candidates for the United States of America, who ran their campaigns in 2016. Three debates were analyzed, as well as two randomly chosen rally speeches by each of the candidates and two aftermath events- Hillary Clinton's concession speech and Donald Trump's inauguration speech. After observing the video materials, collected via various Youtube channels, more than 1700 records of nonverbals were collected, and a selection of 8 types of gestures and expression were chosen to be examined in more detail, as those were the ones which occurred repeatedly, and, therefore, formed the nonverbal vocabulary of the two candidates. These include: the palm up position, the palm down position, the palm-closed-finger pointed position, the fingertip-touch gesture, the eyebrow raise, the eyebrow lower, smiling and pointing. As the Republicans were the ones who invested greatly in Republican institutes, where rightwing intellectuals were hired to form a distinct conservative rhetoric, the results of the analysis show that they approached nonverbal communication in the same fashion- Donald Trump exhibited a recognizable nonverbal vernacular, consisting of well-defined patterns of both authoritative and nonauthoritative nonverbal signs. ThIs approach reiterated his role of a strict father, a role given to him through a divine order, whereby he wishes to pass on his deep moral wisdom to his descendants, and is not afraid to use force if disobeyed. Furthermore, the research showed that Hillary Clinton's nonverbal vocabulary consisted of the same gestures and expressions, in slightly different numbers. While Clinton attempted to find good balance between the same nonverbals as her Republican opponent, she merely confirmed the problem the progressives have been facing throughout their political activity- the lack of their own verbal and nonverbal framework. Instead of echoing, and, therefore, reinforcing the conservative rhetoric, it might have been wiser for her to utilize other, more appropriate nonverbal items, ones that would mirror her role as the nurturant parent of the nation, whose influence stems from the capacity for compassion, and not sheer force. For the sake of comparison, two speeches given by Croatian politicians, the progressive Zoran Milanović and the conservative Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović, were also studied. The results of this brief study show that, much like Clinton, Milanović also shuffles between submissive and dominant nonverbals, while Grabar-Kitarović introduces new nonverbals, ushering Croatian right-wing politics in a new, more moderate and approachable era. Ultimately, this thesis has showcased that a strong framwork is displayed by the Republicans even through their nonverbal communication, while the Democrats are still struggling to find their own voice, even when it comes to body language. |
Abstract (english) | George Lakoff, jedan od najistaknutijih jezikoslovaca današnjice, predstavio je novi pristup političkoj retorici, kojeg su mnogi političari iskoristili prilikom stvaranja svojih kampanja. Sugerirao je da, kako bi netko bio uvjerljiv kandidat republikanske ili demokratske stranke, on/a more preuzeti ulogu strogog oca u prvom slučaju te ulogu brižnog roditelja u drugom slučaju. To se može postići kroz pažljivu konstrukciju zasebnih retorika uz pomoć okvira, tj. pojednostavljenih mentalnih slika koje pomažu ljudima da razumiju svoju okolinu i lakše reagiraju na nju. S obzirom da je neverbalna komunikacija čak i važnija za publiku prilikom zaprimanja poruka od strane govornika, cilj ovog rada jest istražiti jesu li Lakoffove roditeljske figure prenešene u govor tijela političkih figura današnjice te na koji način im ovakva emulacija pomaže ili škodi u pokušaju pridobivanja povjerenja svojih glasača. Političari odabrani za analizu su Donald Trump i Hillary Clinton, predsjednički kandidat Sjedinjenih Američkih Država, koji su provodili svoju kampanju u 2016. godini. Analizirane su tri debate, kao i dva nasumično odabrana govora održana na skupovima obojice kandidata te dva događaja održana nakon objave rezultata izbora- koncesijski govor Hillary Cinton i inauguracijski govor Donalda Trumpa. Nakon promatranja video materijala pronađenih na raznim Youtube kanalima, prikupljeno je preko 1700 neverbalnih znakova, te je napravljen izbor od 8 tipova gesta i izraza koji su detaljnije proučeni, s obzirom da su se opetovano pojavljivali te, time, stvorili neverbalni riječnik dvoje kandidata. Oni uključuju: položaj otvorenog dlana, položaj zatvorenog dlana, položaj zatvoreng dlana i ispruženog prsta, gestu dodira vrhova prstiju, podizanje obrva, spuštanje obrva, osmijeh te upiranje prstom. S obzirom da su republikanci bili ti koji su mnogo uložili u republikanske institute, gdje su zapošljavali desno orijentirane intelektualce kako bi im osmislili jasnu konzervativnu retoriku, rezultati ove analize ukazuju na to da su na jednak način pristupili i neverbalnoj komunikaciji- Donald Trump demonstrirao je prepoznatljiv neverbalni žargon, koji se sastojao od jasno definiranih uzoraka kako autoritarnih, tako i neautoritarnih neverbalnih znakova. Ovakav pristup iznova potvrđuje njegovu ulogu strogog oca, ulogu dobivenu kroz božanski poredak, prema kojem on želi prenijeti svoju duboku moralnu mudrost svojim nasljednicima te se ne boji koristiti silu ukoliko se njegove naredbe ne slijede. Nadalje, istraživanje ukazuje da se neverbalni riječnik Hillary Clinton sastoji od istih gesta i i izraza, u ponešto različitim količinama. U pokušaju da pronađe dobru ravnotežu između jednakih neverbalnih znakova kao i njen konzervativni protukandidat, ona je samo potvrdila problem s kojim se demokrati suočavaju kroz svoju čitavu političku aktivnost- nedostatak vlastitih verbalnih i neverbalnih okvira. Umjesto da oponaša te, samim time, učvršćuje retoriku republikanaca, bilo bi mudrije da iskoristi druge, prikladnije neverbalne znakove, one koje bi potvrdili njenu ulogu brižnog roditelja nacije, čija moć proizlazi iz sposobnosti za suosjećanje, a ne iz puke sile. U svrhu usporedbe, također su analizirana i dva govora hrvatskih političara- jedan od strane progresivnog Zorana Milanovića te jedan od strane konzervativne Kolinde Grabar- Kitarović. Rezultati ovog kratkog istraživanja pokazuju da, kao i Clinton, Milanović također izmjenjuje submisivne i dominantne neverbalne znakove, dok Grabar Kitarović uvodi nove geste, započinjući novu, umjereniju i pristupačniju eru hrvatske desnice. U konačnici, ovaj rad ukazuje na to da su republikanci demonstrirali snažne okvire, čak i u svojoj neverbalnoj komunikaciji, dok demokrati još uvijek nastoje pronaći svoj glas, čak i kad se radi o govoru tijela. |