Rhetorical and stilistical analysis of Václav Havels speeches

Vučetić, Mirna. (2018). Rhetorical and stilistical analysis of Václav Havels speeches. Diploma Thesis. Filozofski fakultet u Zagrebu, Department of Phonetics
Department of West Slavic Languages and Literature. [mentor Kišiček, Gabrijela and Vuković, Petar].

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Abstract

The purpose of the rhetorical and stylistical analysis is to objectively evaluate the rhetoric and style of one of the greatest Czech public speakers in the 21. century. The theoretical part focuses on studying the usual rhetorical characteristics of deliberative speeches, both rhetorical and stylistical. The topic of the research are the technical methods of persuading,ethos, pathos and logos, Havel uses in his speeches to secure the adherence of his audience. Argumentation, fallacies and the general style of the speeches are the key features of the analysis. The rhetorical norms used as the theoretical frame of the work are the traditional, antique works of Aristoteles, Cicero and Quintilian and those of the contemporary authors, the informal logicians. The viewpoint of the stylistical analysis is the linguistical theory, since the speeches can be studied as esays. The conclusive parts of the stilystic analysis are stylistical figures, which took an important place in both rhetoric and stylistics. The paper also includes a short comparative analysis of the speeches characteristics based on the fact whether they were written when Havel was a disident or when he was the president of Czechoslovakia. The theoretical part of the work shows the rhetorical and stylistical theories from the classical, antique period and the contemporary points of view, which are often used in providing a framework in analysing political discourse.

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