Rhetorical Ambiguity and Political Leadership: Ethos and Negotiation in Fredrik Reinfeldt’s 2005 “Welcome to the New Moderates” Speech Cover Image

Rhetorical Ambiguity and Political Leadership: Ethos and Negotiation in Fredrik Reinfeldt’s 2005 “Welcome to the New Moderates” Speech
Rhetorical Ambiguity and Political Leadership: Ethos and Negotiation in Fredrik Reinfeldt’s 2005 “Welcome to the New Moderates” Speech

Author(s): Tommy Bruhn
Subject(s): Politics, Applied Linguistics
Published by: Polskie Towarzystwo Retoryczne
Keywords: rhetorical ambiguity;equivocation;polysemy; rhetorical leadership; conflict management;

Summary/Abstract: This article explores how rhetorically ambiguous speech acts can work as preventive negotiations of potential confl ict within a political party and how such acts can affect the ethos of the leader. I show how rhetorically ambiguous speech can be a way of performing rhetorical leadership and communicating a democratic ethos while motivating participation in a common action for ends understood differently by different audiences.

  • Issue Year: 6/2019
  • Issue No: 2
  • Page Range: 19-32
  • Page Count: 15
  • Language: English