The Polyphonic Orchestration of Barack Obama, 2004 to 2012

Abstract

Obama's ceremonial (i.e. convention speeches and inaugurals) discourse from 2004 to 2012 constitutes an evolving polyphony. The voices of the polyphony shift from offering the Biblically-rich, personal story of Obama as an African-American to the rather partisan story of Obama as a public policy leader. Obama remains the hero in the story the polyphony presents; however, the opposition shifts from being those who doubt the dream to those who oppose policy initiatives. The voices sustain Obama's inspiring story throughout the discourse; however, the personal fades and is replaced by an emphasis on the people he is trying to serve, the policies he is advocating on their behalf, and the partisan turmoil those policies have become entangled in. Grounded in the theoretical work of Mikhail Bakhtin, the account treats Obama's discourse as a non-finalizable orchestration of voices.Increasingly, political figures are more stories than a set of policy proposals or principles. The shift may be due to three converging trends: one, media coverage that is more narrative or dramatic than straightforwardly factual; two, our cultural immersion in story in a media environment dominated by television, film, and the many mininarratives available through the Internet; three, media coverage of political figures,