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POLITICS OF NATIONAL EULOGIES: OBAMA AND DR. KING’S LEGACY

Yıl 2022, Cilt: 23 Sayı: 42, 495 - 519, 31.01.2022
https://doi.org/10.21550/sosbilder.991904

Öz

Eulogy is a key rhetorical tool for the public to come to terms with national tragedies. While eulogies can bring the nation together during times of hardship, they can also undermine political mobilization by placing excessive emphasis on national unity. This paper will analyze this political aspect of national eulogies by providing a close reading of two pivotal political figures in American politics. These figures are the President Barack Obama and the African-American political activist Dr. Martin Luther King. The paper argues that Obama’s eulogy is deeply depoliticizing as he shifts the focus from politics to theological reasoning. King’s eulogies, on the other hand, are more political as he underlines the theme of individual responsibility. Yet King’s discourse also loses its political salience when he taps into the theme of equalizing power of death. This analysis is important to understand the ambiguous nature of eulogies, which makes these speeches oscillate between being a conservative and transformative rhetorical tool in politics.

Kaynakça

  • Amsden, B. (2014). Dimensions of temporality in President Obama’s Tucson memorial Address. Rhetoric & Public Affairs, 17(3), 455-476.
  • Atkins, G. D. (1994). Envisioning the stranger’s heart. College English, 56, 629-641.
  • Dennis, M. R., & Kunkel, A. D. (2004). Fallen heroes, lifted hearts: Consolation in contemporary presidential eulogia. Death Studies, 28(8), 703-731.
  • Derrida, J. (1985). The ear of the other: Otobiography, transference, translation. (Trans: P. Kamuf), Schocken Books.
  • Derrida, J. (1989) Mémoires: For Paul de Man. (Trans: C. Lindsay, J. Culler, E. Cadava, P. Kamuf), Columbia University Press.
  • Deutscher, P. (1998). Mourning the other, cultural cannibalism, and the politics of friendship (Jacques Derrida and Luce Irigaray). Differences: A Journal of Feminist Cultural Studies, 10(3), 159-184.
  • Garver, E. (2009). Aristotle on the kinds of rhetoric. Rhetorica: A Journal of the History of Rhetoric, 27(1), 1-18.
  • Kennedy, G. (1991). Aristotle on rhetoric. Oxford University Press.
  • King, M. L. (1986). Eulogy for the martyred children. In J. M. Washington (Ed.), A Testament of Hope: The Essential Writings of Martin Luther King, Jr. (pp. 221-223), Harper and Row Publishers.
  • King, M. L. (2002, May/June). A Witness to the truth. UU World. http://archive.uuworld.org/2001/02/feature2.pdf
  • Kohrs, K. C. & Jamieson, K. H. (2008). Presidents creating the presidency: Deeds done in words. University of Chicago Press.
  • Lischer, R. (1995). The preacher king: Martin Luther King, Jr. and the word that changed America. Oxford University Press.
  • Nelson, M. (2010). Speeches, speechwriters, and the American Presidency. In M. Nelson & R. L. Riley (Eds.), The President’s Words: Speeches and Speechwriting in the Modern White House (pp. 1-27), University Press of Kansas.
  • Patton, S. (2015a, June 29). Dear white people: Come see how Black people bury our dead. Dame Magazine. http://www.damemagazine.com/2015/06/29/dear-white-america-come-see-how-black-people-bury-our-dead
  • Patton, S. (2015b, April 29). Why is America celebrating the beating of a black child?. The Washington Post. https://www.washingtonpost.com/posteverything/wp/2015/04/29/why-is-america-celebrating-the-beating-of-a-black-child/
  • Richardson, J. D. (1910). A compilation of the messages and papers of the presidents, 1789-1897, Vol. I. Bureau of National Literature and Art.
  • Sheard, C. M. (1996). The public value of epideictic rhetoric. College English, 58(7), 765-794.
  • Schulman, G. (2008) American prophecy: race and redemption in American political culture. University of Minnesota Press.
  • White House: Office of the Press Secretary (2015, June 26). Remarks by the President in eulogy for the honorable reverend Clementa Pinckney. https://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2015/06/26/remarks-president-eulogy-honorable-reverend-clementa-pinckney

Ulusal Anma Konuşmaları ve Politika: Obama ve Dr. King’in Mirası

Yıl 2022, Cilt: 23 Sayı: 42, 495 - 519, 31.01.2022
https://doi.org/10.21550/sosbilder.991904

Öz

Anma konuşmaları halkın ulusal felaketlerin üstesinden gelmelerine yardımcı olan önemli retorik araçlardır. Böyle zor zamanlarda ulusu bir araya getirebilme yetisine sahip olan bu konuşmalar, ulusal birliğe fazla vurgu yaptıkları için politik oluşumların önünü de tıkayabilirler. Bu çalışma ulusal anma konuşmalarının politik yönünü Amerikan siyasetindeki iki önemli şahsın anma konuşmalarını yakından inceleyerek çözümleyecektir. Bu şahıslar Başkan Barack Obama ve Afro-Amerikalı siyasi aktivist Dr. Martin Luther King’dir. Çalışma, Obama tarafından yapılan anma konuşmalarının politikayı dini temalar üzerinden bastırdığını savunur. Diğer taraftan, King’in yaptığı anma konuşmaları daha politiktir çünkü bireysel sorumluluğun altını çizer. Fakat King’in söylemi de ölümün eşitleyici gücüne vurgu yaptığı anlarda politik gücünü yitirir. Çalışma en son olarak anma konuşmalarını daha politik bir yerden okumak için yüzünü Jacques Derrida’ya çevirir. Bu analiz, politikada muhafazakâr ve dönüştürücü bir retorik araç olmak arasında gidip gelen anma konuşmalarının muğlak yapısını anlamak için önemlidir.

Kaynakça

  • Amsden, B. (2014). Dimensions of temporality in President Obama’s Tucson memorial Address. Rhetoric & Public Affairs, 17(3), 455-476.
  • Atkins, G. D. (1994). Envisioning the stranger’s heart. College English, 56, 629-641.
  • Dennis, M. R., & Kunkel, A. D. (2004). Fallen heroes, lifted hearts: Consolation in contemporary presidential eulogia. Death Studies, 28(8), 703-731.
  • Derrida, J. (1985). The ear of the other: Otobiography, transference, translation. (Trans: P. Kamuf), Schocken Books.
  • Derrida, J. (1989) Mémoires: For Paul de Man. (Trans: C. Lindsay, J. Culler, E. Cadava, P. Kamuf), Columbia University Press.
  • Deutscher, P. (1998). Mourning the other, cultural cannibalism, and the politics of friendship (Jacques Derrida and Luce Irigaray). Differences: A Journal of Feminist Cultural Studies, 10(3), 159-184.
  • Garver, E. (2009). Aristotle on the kinds of rhetoric. Rhetorica: A Journal of the History of Rhetoric, 27(1), 1-18.
  • Kennedy, G. (1991). Aristotle on rhetoric. Oxford University Press.
  • King, M. L. (1986). Eulogy for the martyred children. In J. M. Washington (Ed.), A Testament of Hope: The Essential Writings of Martin Luther King, Jr. (pp. 221-223), Harper and Row Publishers.
  • King, M. L. (2002, May/June). A Witness to the truth. UU World. http://archive.uuworld.org/2001/02/feature2.pdf
  • Kohrs, K. C. & Jamieson, K. H. (2008). Presidents creating the presidency: Deeds done in words. University of Chicago Press.
  • Lischer, R. (1995). The preacher king: Martin Luther King, Jr. and the word that changed America. Oxford University Press.
  • Nelson, M. (2010). Speeches, speechwriters, and the American Presidency. In M. Nelson & R. L. Riley (Eds.), The President’s Words: Speeches and Speechwriting in the Modern White House (pp. 1-27), University Press of Kansas.
  • Patton, S. (2015a, June 29). Dear white people: Come see how Black people bury our dead. Dame Magazine. http://www.damemagazine.com/2015/06/29/dear-white-america-come-see-how-black-people-bury-our-dead
  • Patton, S. (2015b, April 29). Why is America celebrating the beating of a black child?. The Washington Post. https://www.washingtonpost.com/posteverything/wp/2015/04/29/why-is-america-celebrating-the-beating-of-a-black-child/
  • Richardson, J. D. (1910). A compilation of the messages and papers of the presidents, 1789-1897, Vol. I. Bureau of National Literature and Art.
  • Sheard, C. M. (1996). The public value of epideictic rhetoric. College English, 58(7), 765-794.
  • Schulman, G. (2008) American prophecy: race and redemption in American political culture. University of Minnesota Press.
  • White House: Office of the Press Secretary (2015, June 26). Remarks by the President in eulogy for the honorable reverend Clementa Pinckney. https://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2015/06/26/remarks-president-eulogy-honorable-reverend-clementa-pinckney
Toplam 19 adet kaynakça vardır.

Ayrıntılar

Birincil Dil İngilizce
Konular Felsefe, Siyaset Bilimi
Bölüm Makaleler
Yazarlar

Arda Güçler 0000-0002-0343-5099

Yayımlanma Tarihi 31 Ocak 2022
Yayımlandığı Sayı Yıl 2022 Cilt: 23 Sayı: 42

Kaynak Göster

APA Güçler, A. (2022). POLITICS OF NATIONAL EULOGIES: OBAMA AND DR. KING’S LEGACY. Uludağ Üniversitesi Fen-Edebiyat Fakültesi Sosyal Bilimler Dergisi, 23(42), 495-519. https://doi.org/10.21550/sosbilder.991904