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Reyes-Rodriguez (2008) Hot and Cold War: The Linguistic Representation of a Rational Decision Filter

Hot and Cold War: The Linguistic Representation of a Rational Decision Filter

Antonio Reyes-Rodriguez, University of Mississippi

Abstract

This paper focuses on the linguistic representations of war and their implications; it examines how war is linguistically and rhetorically justified or rejected (Butt, Lukin and Matthiessens 2004).  I propose the theoretical notion of a ‘Rational Decision Filter' that allows us to understand the tone and intentions of the U.S.  administration (Bhatia 2006), expressed through lexical choices (Caldas-Coulthard 2003).  I analyze several U.S.  presidents' speeches to observe the characteristics of their discourses when dealing with ‘enemies' and show how a rational filter applies to legitimate or avoid confrontation.  I describe strategies of legitimatization or de-legitimatization and their emotive effects (Chilton 2004).  The arguments employed to justify war against Afghanistan and Iraq (lack of freedom, lack of democracy, totalitarian regimes, possession of mass destruction weapons ...etc) were also applicable to other well-known nations in the world like the Soviet Union, China and North Korea.  However, the U.S.  administrations' declarations barely refer to those regimes.  Furthermore, this paper accounts for the U.S.  administrations' intentional elusion (Galasinski 2000) of these regimes when addressing a ‘foreign enemy' in speech.  I intend to describe when and why these elusions are latent.  When the outcome of the ‘Rational Decision Filter'  is the physical war, politicians often use a device to create emotions of fear and rejection: ‘Explicit Emotional Enumeration'.  I present this theoretical notion as a tool to analyze political discourse. 

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