Pragmatic Effect of Humor in Public Political Speeches

Abstract

The article is devoted to the analysis of communicative strategies and tactics of realization of pragmatic effect using humorous statements in English-language public political speech. Both verbal and non-verbal means of expressing humor are used to increase the impact on the audience. Expressive language means, in particular vocabulary aimed at humiliation and insult of the addressee, play an important role in the speech of politicians. Humor allows to manage the situation in political communication, creating a situation of misunderstanding, deliberately contributing to the wrong statement of the opponent, provoking an undesirable reaction of the audience. Communicative strategies in public speeches are common among political representatives when presenting their election campaign and delivering campaign speeches. This is due to the desire to influence society, the plans, values and consciousness of the audience, involving various techniques of manipulation. According to communicative situation speakers use certain type of strategies to achieve some goals in communication more efficient. Every strategy is realized in speech through communicative tactics, which implement various language techniques aimed to change opinions of the addressee about politicians. The most common strategy is aims to reduce the importance of a political opponent., embodying the implicit or explicit expression of a negative attitude towards the situation or person. Less common strategy used by politicians is focused on creating the opposite effect, when the manipulator gets the sympathy of the recipient through the creation of a positive image. The most expressive strategy is to give speeches vigor and spectacularness. Sarcasm is one of the means to express communicative tactic implicitly to achieve manipulative influence. The most effective tactics used by politicians are accusations, condemnation, insults, distancing, presentations, ‘friend or foe’ differentiations, appeal to emotions. The article includes detailed analysis of strategies and tactics that form the basis of pragmatic political speech in the examples of English public discourse.