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ORATORY AND SPEECHESOratoricalstyle is the oral subdivision of the publicistic style. It has already been pointed out that persuasion is the most obvious purpose of oratory. "Oratorical speech", writes A. Potebnya, "aims not only at the understanding and digesting of the idea, but also serves simultaneously as a spring setting off a mood (which is the aim) that may lead to action." Direct contact with the listeners permits the combination of the syntactical, lexical and phonetic peculiarities of both the written and spoken varieties of language. In its leading features, however, oratorical style belongs to the written variety of language, though it is modified by the oral form of the utterance and the- use of gestures. Certain typical features of the spoken variety of speech present in this style are: direct address to the audience (ladies and gentlemen, honourable member(s), the use of the 2nd person pronoun you, etc.), sometimes contractions (I'll, won ' t, haven ' t, isn ' t and others) and the use of colloquial words. This style is evident in speeches on political and social problems of the day, in orations and addresses on solemn occasions as public weddings, funerals and jubilees, in sermons and debates and also in the speeches of counsel and judges in courts of law. Political speeches fall into two categories: parliamentary debates and speeches at rallies, congresses, meetings and election campaigns. Sermons mostly touch upon religious subjects, ethics and morality, and sometimes nowadays they take up social and political problems as well. Orations on solemn public occasions are typical specimens of this style and not a few of their word sequences and phrases are ready-made phrases or cliches. The sphere of application of oratory is confined to appeal to an audience and therefore crucial issues in such spheres as science, art, literature, or business relations are not touched upon except perhaps by allusion. If such problems are dealt with in oratorical style the effect is humorous. The following extract from "Posthumous Papers of the Pickwick Club" by Charles Dickens is a parody of an oration. — "But I trust, Sir," said Pott, "that I have never abused the enormous power I wield. I trust, Sir, that I have never pointed the noble instrument which is placed in my hands, against the sacred bosom of private life, of the tender breast of individual reputation; — I trust, Sir, that I have devoted my energies to — to endeavours — humble they may be, humble I know they are — to instil those principles of — which — are —." — Here the editor of the EatonswillGazette, appearing to ramble, Mr. Pickwick came to his relief, and said — "Certainly." — The stylistic devices employed in oratorical style are determined by the conditions of communication. If the desire of the speaker is to rouse the audience and to keep it in suspense, he will use various traditional stylistic devices. But undue prominence given to the form may lead to an exaggerated use of these devices, to various embellishments. Tradition is very powerful in oratorical style and the 16th century rhetorical principles laid down by Thomas Wilson in his "Arte of Rhetorique" are sometimes still used in modern oratory, though, on the whole, modern oratory tends to lower its key more and more, using the note of quiet business-like exposition of ideas. Stylistic devices are closely interwoven and mutually complementary thus building up an intricate pattern. For example, antithesis is framed by parallel constructions, which, in their turn, are accompanied by repetition, while climax can be formed by repetitions of different kinds. As the audience rely only on memory, the speaker often resorts to repetitions to enable his listeners to follow him and retain the main points of his speech. Repetition is also resorted to in order to persuade the audience, to add weight to the speaker's opinion. The following extract from the speech of the American Confederate general, A. P. Hill, on the ending of the Civil War in the U.S.A. is an example of anaphoric repetition: " Itishightime this people had recovered from the passions of war. Itishightime that counsel were taken from statesmen, not demagogues... It ishightime the people of the North and the South understood each other and adopted means to inspire confidence in each other." Further, anadiplosis is used by the speaker: "The South will not secede again. That was her great folly — folly against her own interest, not wrong against you. A mere repetition of the same idea and in the same linguistic form may bore the audience and destroy the speaker-audience contact, therefore synonymous phrase repetition is used instead, thus filling up the speech with details and embellishing it, as in this excerpt from a speech on Robert Burns: "For Burns exalted our race, he hallowed Scotland and the Scottish tongue. Before his time wehadforalongperiodbeenscarcelyrecognized; we had been fallingoutoftherecollectionoftheworld. From the time of the Union of the Crowns, and still more from the legislative union, Scotland had lapsed intoobscurity. Except for an occasional riot or a Jacobite rising, her existencewasalmostforgotten ." Here synonymous phrase repetition ('been scarcely recognized,' 'falling out of the recollection of the world', 'had lapsed into obscurity', 'her existence was almost forgotten') is coupled with climax. Repetition can be regarded as the most typical stylistic device of English oratorical style. Almost any piece of oratory will have parallel constructions, antithesis, suspense, climax, rhetorical questions and questions-in-the-narrative. It will be no exaggeration to say that almost all typical syntactical stylistic devices can be found in English oratory. Questions are most frequent because they promote closer contact with the audience. The change of intonation breaks the monotony of the intonation pattern and revives the attention of the listeners. The desire of the speaker to convince and to rouse his audience results in the use of simile and metaphor, but these are generally traditional ones, as fresh and genuine stylistic devices may divert the attention of the listeners away from the main point of the speech. Besides, unexpected and original images are more difficult to grasp and the process takes time. If a genuine metaphor is used by the orator, it is usually a sustained one, as a series of related images is easier to grasp and facilitates the conception of facts compared. Allusions in oratorical style depend on the content of the speech and the level of the audience. Special obligatory forms open up and end an oration, e.g. MyLords; Mr. President; Mr. Chairman; YourWorship; LadiesandGentlemen, etc. At the end of his speech the speaker usually thanks the audience for their attention by saying: Thankyou or Thankyouverymuch. Expressions of direct address can be repeated in the course of the speech and may be expressed differently: dearfriends, myfriends, Markyoul, Mindl Here is an interesting example showing how overdoing the use of stylistic devices may veil the uncertainty of the speaker, in this case as to what should be done to remedy the state of affairs he describes. "In defending the Bottom Dog I do not deal with hard science only; but with the dearest faiths, the oldest wrongs and the most awful relationship of the great human family, for whose good I strive and to whose judgment I appeal. Showing, as I do, how the hardworking and hard-playing public shun laborious thinking and serious writing, and how they hate to have their ease disturbed or their prejudices handled rudely, I still make bold to undertake this task, because of the vital nature of the problems I shall probe. The case for the Bottom Dog should touch the public heart to the quick, for it affects the truth of our religions, the justice of our laws and the destinies of our children and our children's children. Much golden eloquence has been squandered in praise of the successful and the good; much stern condemnation has been vented upon the wicked. I venture now to plead for those of our poor brothers and sisters who are accursed of Christ and rejected of men. Hitherto all the love, all the honors, all the applause of this world, and the rewards of heaven have been lavished on the fortunate and the strong; and the portion of the unfriended Bottom Dog, in his adversity and weakness, has been curses, blows, chains, the gallows and everlasting damnation. I shall plead, then, for those who are loathed and tortured and branded as the sinful and unclean; for those who have hated us and wronged us, and have been wronged and hated by us. I shall defend them for right's sake, for pity's sake and for the benefit of society and the race. For these-also are of our flesh, these also have erred and gone astray, these also are victims of an inscrutable and relentless Fate. If it concerns us that the religions of the world are childish dreams of nightmares; if it concerns us that our penal laws and moral codes are survivals of barbarism and fear; if it concerns us that our most cherished and venerable ideas of our relations to God and to each other are illogical and savage, then the case for the Bottom Dog concerns us nearly. If it moves us to learn that disease may be prevented, that ruin may be averted, that broken hearts and broken lives may be made whole; if it inspires us to hear how beauty may be conjured out of loathsomeness and glory out of shame; how waste may be turned to wealth and death to life, and despair to happiness. Then the case for the Bottom Dog is a case to be well and truly tried." (Robert Blatchford) The ornamental elements of the oratorical pattern are highly exaggerated in this speech. It overabounds in various syntactical stylistic devices: in parallel constructions, chiasmus, repetition of various kinds, in particular, anaphoric repetition; there is climax in practically every paragraph. The passage is equally rich in such devices as suspense and antithesis. Elevation and emotional appeal are achieved by the use of high-flown words and words of emotive meaning. But this pomposity, as a matter of fact, conceals weakness in purport. Very little remains if all these devices are removed and the speech, as it were, translated into the language of logic. What is the aim of the speaker? What is he proposing to the audience he wishes to stir? What reaction does he expect? All this remains unsaid. The main idea of Blatchford's speech, however, can be discerned in spite of all the embellishments of his oratory. He wants help for those miserable people who are to be found at the bottom of the social ladder, but he makes no practical suggestions. It will be of considerable interest to compare this speech to Byron's Maiden Speech in the House of Lords in defence of the Luddites, which can be regarded as a perfect specimen of oratorical style. Byron used his eloquence against the Bill providing capital punishment for the destruction of machines. His purpose was to prevent the passage of the Bill, to get an impartial examination of the facts. Byron's speech is also rich in oratorical devices. But all these devices are motivated, they are organically connected with the utterance: the form by no means dominates the content. An examination of the following speech will show that it is practically devoid of meaning. The speaker is merely seeking an effect. "Mr. Chairman, Ladies and Gentlemen: It is indeed a great and undeserved privilege to address such an audience as I see before me. At no previous time in the history of human civilization have greater problems confronted and challenged the ingenuity of man's intellect than now. Let us look around us. What do we see on the horizon? What forces are at work? Whither are we drifting? Under what mist of clouds does the future stand obscured? My friends, casting aside the raiment of all human speech, the crucial test for the solution of all these intricate problems to which I have just alluded is the sheer and forceful application of those immutable laws which down the corridor of Time have always guided the hand of man, groping, as it were, for some faint beacon light for his hopes and aspirations. Without these great vital principles we are but puppets responding to whim and fancy, failing entirely to grasp the hidden meaning of it all. We must re-address ourselves to these questions which press for answer and solution. The issues cannot be avoided. There they stand. It is upon you, and you, and yet even upon me, that the yoke of responsibility falls. What, then, is our duty? Shall we continue to drift? No!" With all the emphasis of my being I hurl back the message No! Drifting must stop. We must press onward and upward toward the ultimate goal to which all must aspire. But I cannot conclude my remarks, dear friends, without touching briefly upon a subject which I know is steeped in your very consciousness. I refer to that spirit which gleams from the eyes of a new-born babe, that animates the toiling masses, that sways all the hosts of humanity past and present. Without this energizing principle all commerce, trade and industry are hushed and will perish from this earth as surely as the crimson sunset follows the golden sunshine. Mark you, I do not seek to unduly alarm or distress the mothers, fathers, sons and daughters gathered before me in this vast assemblage, but I would indeed be recreant to a high resolve which I made as a youth if I did not at this time and in this place, and with the full realizing sense of responsibility which I assume, publicly declare and affirm my dedication and my consecration to the eternal principles and receipts of simple, ordinary, commonplace justice ." The proper evaluation of this speech should be: "Words, words, words." The whole speech is made to hide the fact that the speaker has no thought. Questions remain unanswered, climaxes are not motivated. What is the subject that 'cannot be left untouched'? This is really a masterpiece of eloquent emptiness and verbosity. Дата добавления: 2015-09-27 | Просмотры: 1188 | Нарушение авторских прав |