social constructionism a discourse analysis
This discourse analysis attempts to answer several questions regarding Chairman Hyde's speech against the president. Firstly an attempt has been made to uncover some of the more prevalent themes and discourses in the hope that they will give some kind of enlightenment of American society and culture. Secondly, this analysis describes the many ways in which Chairman Hyde attempts to persuade his audience of his cause. The portrayed image of President Clinton is then focused on, and finally there is a discussion relating to the various social codes implied within Hyde's speech. It has been found that many of these areas overlap to a greater or lesser degree. However it is believed that the four questions should be answered separately at the risk of sounding repetitive, as this gives the reader a chance to identify and understand how ideas and themes can serve quite different purposes when expressed in different contexts and discourses, and with particular motivations. Throughout the summation of Hyde's case against the president, he draws upon several prevalent discourses. These act as an influential basis for his argument, designed to appeal specifically to other members of the senate, the counsel for
By concentrating solely on an idealised version of American society Hyde manages to discredit the President quite effectively. Within Hyde's speech, the audience are placed within a utopic America, and confronted by the supposed corrupter of that utopia - the President. The speech expresses classic discourses of nationalism, truth, freedom, liberty and the American way that serve to reinforce and glorify a capitalist social order based on economic rationalism rather than the ideals it claims to protect. against President Clinton. He executes these by elevating Clinton's crimes to a higher level; concentrating on a level of moral misconduct by lying under oath, which affects the whole nation, rather than concentrating solely on the sexual misconduct committed (para 6, p.2). Repetition is used constantly to emphasise a statement or issue he is speaking about, with words such as: justice, sacred honour, covenant of trust, the rule of law, and statements such as "presidency is an office of trust." (para 11, p.2) It is shown that Clinton's presidency is obviously not based upon ideals such as these. He places considerable emphasis on the president breaking his word by using irony and satire; "take the president at his word", "lets take the president seriously when he speaks of covenants, because a covenant is about promise making and promise keeping" (para 13, p.3). With almost religious overtones, Hyde speaks of America's "intuitive sacred honour" (para 8, p.2) based in the declaration of independence. This sacred honour effectively represents the two major discourses within the speech including the nationalism discussed above and the influence of religion. Religion is the next major theme, which leads to an underlying discourse of morality. Religion promotes a sense of objective truth, morality and meaning within the world relying on faith as a kind of epistemology. This is directly parallel to the sense of morality within dominant American culture that Hyde implicitly regurgitates throughout his argument. Just as Christianity promotes belief in a moral system through the bible, so Hyde promotes a belief in a moral and political system represented by the constitution. He speaks about "transcendent truths" and the "judgement of God" (para 10, p.2) suggesting a kind of positivist discourse relying on concrete rights and wrongs. He expresses a moral absolutism that ignores the extreme diversity of human existence and the diversity of a situation or con
Some common words found in the essay are:
President Clinton, Chairman Hyde, Hyde American, America Hence, American Clinton, Rule Law, America Hyde, American's Hyde, Chairman Hyde's, rule law, DISCOURSE ANALYSIS, american society, sacred honour, social cultural codes, themes discourses, president clinton, hyde's speech, cultural codes, social code, social cultural, trust para, trust rule law, liberty equal justice, law social code, american society culture,
Approximate Word count = 1671
Approximate Pages = 7 (250 words per page double spaced)
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