American Identity Enveloped in Words Cover Image

American Identity Enveloped in Words
American Identity Enveloped in Words

Author(s): Anna Stwora
Subject(s): Psycholinguistics, Sociolinguistics, Politics and Identity
Published by: Uniwersytet Jana Długosza w Częstochowie
Keywords: rhetoric; the American Dream; national identity; manipulation; thought pattern;

Summary/Abstract: This article aims at presenting presidential rhetoric in which the myth of the American Dream is employed in order to influence national identity. It provides an overall description of the theme of the American Dream from the standpoint of sociolinguistics and psycholinguistics, basing on discretionally selected inaugural addresses delivered by four Presidents of the United States, with particular emphasis placed on the process of moulding individual identity through the construction and maintenance of cognitive and thought patterns. The research questions posed are intended to prove that the American Dream may be perceived as an instrument of psycholinguistic manipulation which can be the source of ideological and social pressure.

  • Issue Year: XIII/2017
  • Issue No: 13
  • Page Range: 67-79
  • Page Count: 13
  • Language: English