Covid-19 and its Influence on the Political Speeches: A Discourse Analysis Study of the Use of Pronouns in Selected Presidential Speeches

Abstract

Although investigating the role of pronouns in formulating specific socio- political ideologies is not new, the influence of the Covid-19 on the leaders, politicians and presidents contributes in creating controversial speeches which are similar in the timing of their issuance, their goals, and their objectivity in introducing the unprecedented crisis of Covid-19. Discourse analysis is required in such study to analyze two political speeches which are chosen arbitrarily, the American president: Trump’s speech, and the French president, Macron’s speech. Many linguistic strategies are employed in the two speeches, but the concentration of the study will be on the pronouns, especially the personal pronouns I, We, and You. The study is not comparative study as much as it is a way to reveal to what extent the two presidents use the personal pronouns to display the ability or inability to take responsibility for fighting Covid-19 along with spreading a specific ideology adopted by each president.