Dissertations and Theses @ UNI
Availability
Open Access Thesis
Keywords
Clinton, Bill, --1946---Oratory; Clinton, Bill, --1946-; Discourse analysis--Psychological aspects; Oratory; Rhetoric--Political aspects; Okinawa Island (Japan); Japan--Okinawa Island; Academic theses;
Abstract
In order to develop an understanding of reciprocal relations of multiple rhetorical texts, this study seeks to analyze the interaction between an Okinawa war memorial titled "The Cornerstone of Peace" and a Presidential speech Clinton delivered at that site. This study attempts to investigate how textual meanings are shaped between themselves, apart from rhetors' original intention. The focus on the function, rather than the intention, of rhetorical texts, thus calls for the theoretical reconsideration of the conventional rhetorical analysis, in which critics analyze how a rhetor responds to a particular situation. The need to attend to the dynamic formation of intertextual meanings reflects the advent of a postmodern rhetorical style today. It is no longer the only purpose of rhetorical action to universalize conflicted views under a heading of the only right one, but rather to embrace different views as conflicted in order to seek common ground for mutual understanding. This rhetorical characteristic becomes conspicuous, especially in efforts to establish an amicable relationship between people with different historical views, which are often mutually irreconcilable. This study, however, argues that Clinton read the memorial as universally conceptualizing the meaning of peace to his advantage. The memorial is postmodern in embracing different views of the battle by listing all the names of the war dead regardless of the sides they had fought on and the status of civilians/soldiers. Yet, Clinton used the memorial to justify the U.S. military presence which Okinawans resented due to the occurrence of violence linked to the servicepeople. This was the semantic formation by the interaction.
Year of Submission
2004
Degree Name
Master of Arts
Department
Department of Communication Studies
First Advisor
Catherine Palczewski
Second Advisor
Christopher Martin
Third Advisor
John Fritch
Date Original
2004
Object Description
1 PDF file (89 leaves)
Copyright
©2004 Takayuki Kato
Language
en
File Format
application/pdf
Recommended Citation
Kato, Takayuki, "Rhetorical Analysis of Interactive Texts: Okinawa War Memorial and Presidential Speech" (2004). Dissertations and Theses @ UNI. 3133.
https://scholarworks.uni.edu/etd/3133
Comments
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