Analysing Political Speeches: Rhetoric, Discourse and Metaphor

Examines the role of language in speeches and how it can be used to challenge or reinforce prevailing social, cultural and political attitudes Exploring speeches by politicians such as Volodymyr Zelensky, Vladimir Putin and Giorgia Meloni, climate activists such as Greta Thunberg and Xiye Bastida, and other public figures such as Elon Musk and Gareth Southgate, this engaging textbook explains how persuasive speeches can be critically analysed. It examines how language can challenge or reinforce prevailing social, cultural and political attitudes. The author explains why speeches are persuasive and how they achieve their effects through a range of analytical frameworks including Critical Metaphor Analysis.Each chapter introduces a distinct discourse-based approach before applying it in a model analysis of a major speech. The chosen speeches address issues of enduring social and political significance. Through systematic exercises, students are encouraged to engage directly with the speeches and to explore how traditional approaches to textual analysis – such as classical rhetoric and cohesion – can be integrated with contemporary frameworks including the author’s Moral Discourse Approach (introduced here for the first time) and the Discourse Historical Approach. Fully updated throughout, this third edition:· Integrates Moral Foundations Theory· Includes new chapters on Populism, Climate Change and Artificial Intelligence· Incorporates new core texts making it more relevant to current readersAnalysing Political Speeches provides a critical framework for evaluating rhetoric, unveiling metaphorical language, and analysing the discourse of political speeches in a rapidly evolving democratic landscape.