Rhetoric of Defeat in American Presidential Concession Speeches (APCSs)

Abstract

Concession speeches often mark the end of the tussle and jostle that characterise the political campaigns which precede elections. Existing studies on rhetoric in politics have looked at the pragmatic functions, stylistic features and politeness strategies in (American) presidential concession speeches. The examination of the generic structure potential of the speeches is a worthy addition towards characterising the rhetorics of (American) concession speeches. This paper, therefore, examines the rhetorical structure, communicative functions and generic structure potential of American presidential concession speeches. Guided by Halliday and Hassan’s (1989) model of Generic Structure Potential, eight American presidential concession speeches which span over a period of thirty-three years were purposively selected for analysis. Ten communicative functions are identified in the speeches. Eight elements identified as obligatory are Phatic Greeting (PG), General Appreciation (GA), Personal Appreciation (PA), Call to President-elect (CP), Congratulating the President-elect (CPE), Regrets over Election Outcome (REO), Call for Unity and Support (CUS) and Prayer for America (PAM). The optional elements are Allusion (A) and Eulogising the winner (EW). This study thus concludes that the generic structure potential of American Presidential Concession Speeches is represented as: [PG]^GA.^CP^CPE^{PA}.REO^{(A)}^{(EW)}^CUS^[PAM]. American concession speeches constitute a form of genre with a definite form. The structured form of the speeches depicts the American presidency as an institution with certain philosophies and expectancies.