The Allusive Language of Politics: Do Americans Ever Apologize?
The Allusive Language of Politics: Do Americans Ever Apologize?

Summary/Abstract: The present study is a pragmatic approach to apology. According to John E. Joseph, “The study of language and politics aims at understanding the role of linguistic communication in the functioning of social units, and how this role shapes language itself.” Politics is the art, and language is the medium, whereby politicians position themselves to get what they need, and beyond that, what they want. Politics has been defined as the continuous search for ways through which the “conflicting interest” can be resolved. It cannot be carried out without language, and it could be the use of language in the composition of social groups that leads to what is called politics. Political language is a variety of language that allows politicians to use certain effective aspects in their speeches (whether spoken or written), and to bring about the effect they seek on their addressees. The language of politics is the carrier of apology in the sense that apologizing is a speech act in which something is claimed to hold by, for instance, presidents of state, such as the American Presidents George W. Bush, Bill Clinton, and Barak Obama.

• Details
• Contents