Two years ago, I picked up a book called Unspeak by Stephen Poole for my Language 338 class. In it, the author introduces the idea of Unspeak. Although "unspeak" is a very complicated concept that Poole addresses beautifully in his book, I shall endeavor to express what it means concisely. "Unspeak" describes how a phrase or even a word can "carr[y] with it a whole unspoken arguement."(Poole, 2006) This means that if the term is accepted by the listener, it essentially denies other viewpoints existence, and therefore no argument occurs and the term does not need to be justified. The text I would like to take a look at then is the use of the slogans of the Romney/Ryan, Obama/Biden 2012 Campaigns.
The Obama/Biden slogan, according to viewer experience, and the campaign wiki, is "Forward," continuing the Obama tradition of the one word campaign slogan. The word "Forward" itself is a very powerful word. Forward implies progress is being made because America moves forward into the 21st century. But on closer inspection, Forward can be connected to the Romney/Ryan campaign seeks to use financial plans that were similar to the Reaganomics of the 1980s, moving backwards, which to Americans implies that progress halts.
The Romney/Ryan slogan, according to the same previous sources, is "Believe in America." For one, Romney uses the word "America" which stirs the heart of every red blooded American. It's kinda like flying a 30ftx60ft American flag in verbal form. Next we get to the real problem in the slogan, the believe part. The word "believe" can be considered a very touchy word. to "believe" does not necessarily mean that there is empirical evidence to back up your belief, you can just "believe" in it and, to the believer, it is the truth. So, when Romney asks us to "Believe in America," he's saying "Never mind all this crap over here, the America is what we make it." Also, what are we supposed to believe about it? That it can succeed? That it is the best nation on earth? What Romney and Ryan are really asking us to believe about their campaigns is that they will solve our financial, social, and political problems, problems that were caused by people that were, or are, not as American as the GOP candidates are.
That's a really interesting rhetorical device! Single words. I never thought before about how fewer words make more powerful arguments. I guess that way there's not a lot of room for the text to broken down and be analyzed. However, it also leaves room for greater interpretation, which may or may not be a bad thing for both candidates.
ReplyDeleteThere is a great deal of speculation that goes on with things like campaign slogans, and yes, there is a great deal to interpret. Glad I could brought "Unspeak" to your attention. The book is great.
ReplyDelete"Unspeak" by Stephen Poole
Word associations... Forward to me implies some sort of momentum which I do not think may Americans would agree we currently are experiencing under O. probably not the best choice.
ReplyDeleteBelieve carries with it so many connotations...faith in God, in the country, in his past successes in business and family. Most people still believe in America...it is our presidential candidates and the system we find hard to put our faith in.
Forward is also very timely for Obama. He's the incumbent, and needs a word that allows him to play off the last four years. To me, Forward implies the feeling that Obama still has shit left to do that he didn't get to the first time around. Whether this is due to political realities or because he is a bad president is left to the reader to decide.
ReplyDeleteTim -
ReplyDeleteyou are close to a month without any post on your blog. Just pointing this out.
Kirk