Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in
Book cover

International Workshop on Political Speech

PS 2010: Multimodal Communication in Political Speech. Shaping Minds and Social Action pp 133–148Cite as

Sometimes I, Sometimes Me: A Study on the Use of Autobiographical Memories in Two Political Speeches by Barack Obama

  • Conference paper

Part of the book series: Lecture Notes in Computer Science ((LNAI,volume 7688))

Abstract

Personalization being a major change in contemporary democratic persuasive endeavor, the paper is based on the general idea that leaders may sound more persuasive by using self-disclosure communications. The study presented is a first tentative to explore how Obama might profit from his references to his own life story to enhance intergroup reconciliation processes, when speaking officially to leaders of other countries. The in-depth multimodal analyses of the opening parts of two important political speeches (in Accra on July 11  2009, and in Jakarta on November 10 2010) allow to detect Obama’s different uses of autobiographical memories, sometimes linked to personal aspects and some other times more focused on social and historical aspects, without conveying any self-exposure intent. Consequences for further studies as well as for the need of a more complex concept of personalization are discussed.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution.

Chapter
USD   29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD   39.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD   49.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Learn about institutional subscriptions

Preview

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

References

  1. Caprara, G.V., Zimbardo, P.G.: Personalizing Politics: A Congruency Model of Political Preference. Am. Psych. 59(7), 581–594 (2004)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  2. Caprara, G.V.: The Personalization of Modern Politics. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge (2007)

    Google Scholar 

  3. Bean, C.: The Electoral Influence of Party Leader Images in Australia and New Zealand. Comp. Pol. Stud. 26, 111–132 (1993)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  4. McAllister, I.: The Personalization of Politics. In: Dalton, R.J., Klingemann, H.-D. (eds.) Oxford Handbook of Political Behavior, pp. 571–585. Oxford University Press, Oxford (2007)

    Google Scholar 

  5. Bobbio, N.: Tra Due Repubbliche. Alle Origini della Democrazia Italiana. Donzelli, Roma (1996)

    Google Scholar 

  6. Bowler, S., Farrell, D.M. (eds.): Electoral Strategies and Political Marketing. Macmillan, London (1992)

    Google Scholar 

  7. Glaser, T., Salmon, C.: Public Opinion and the Communication of Consent. Guilford, New York (1991)

    Google Scholar 

  8. Barkin, S.M.: Eisenhower’s Secret Strategy: Television Planning in the 1952 Campaign. Eur. J. Marketing 20, 18–28 (1986)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  9. West, D.M.: Air Wars: Television Advertising in Election Campaigns, 1952-2000, pp. 1952–2000. Congressional Quarterly Press, Washington, D.C. (2001)

    Google Scholar 

  10. Negrine, R.: The Communication of Politics. Sage, London (1996)

    Google Scholar 

  11. Clarke, H.D., Stewart, M.C.: The Decline of Parties in the Minds of Citizens. An. Rev. of Pol. Sc. 1, 357–378 (1998)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  12. Keeter, S.: The Illusion of Intimacy: Television and the Role of Candidate Personal Qualities in Voter Choice. Publ. Op. Quart. 51, 344–358 (1987)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  13. Mutz, D.C.: Mass Media and the Depoliticization of Personal Experience. Am. J. Pol. Sc. 36, 483–508 (1992)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  14. Thompson, J.B.: The New Visibility. Theory Culture Society 22(6), 31–51 (2005)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  15. Pennebaker, J.W., Zech, E., Rimé, B.: Disclosing and Sharing Emotions: Psychological, Social, and Health Consequences. In: Stroebe, M.S., Hansson, R.O. (eds.) Handbook of Bereavement Research: Consequences, Coping and Care, pp. 517–543. American Psychological Association, Washington, D.C. (2001)

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  16. Fischer, M.M.J.: Ethnicity and the Post-Modern Arts of Memory. In: Clifford, J. (ed.) Writing Culture: The Poetics and Politics of Ethnography, pp. 194–233. University of California Press, Berkeley (1986)

    Google Scholar 

  17. Sinclair-Chapman, V., Price, M.: Black Politics, the 2008 Election, and the (Im)Possibility of Race Transcendence. Pol. Sc. and Pol., 739–745 (October 2008)

    Google Scholar 

  18. Da Costa, M.K.: Interracial Intimacies, Barack Obama, and the Politics of Multiracialism. The Black Scholar 39(3/4), 4–12 (2009)

    Google Scholar 

  19. Zogby, J.: Barack Obama: America’s first Global President. Politics 45 (March 2009)

    Google Scholar 

  20. Hammack, P.L.: The Political Psychology of Personal Narrative: The Case of Barack Obama. Analyses of Social Issues and Public Policy 10, 182–206 (2010)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  21. Nadler, A., Malloy, T.E., Fisher, J.D. (eds.): Social Psychology of Intergroup Reconciliation. Oxford University Press, New York (2008)

    Google Scholar 

  22. Halbwachs, M.: Les Cadres Sociaux de la Mémoire. Mouton, Paris (1975; ed. or 1925)

    Google Scholar 

  23. Halbwachs, M.: La mémoire Collective. PUF, Paris (1950)

    Google Scholar 

  24. Arendt, H.: The Life of the Mind. Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, New York (1978)

    Google Scholar 

  25. Lewis, M., Sullivan, M.W., Stanger, C., Weiss, M.: Self Development and Self-Conscious Emotions. Child Develop. 60(1), 146–156 (1989)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  26. Volpato, C., Licata, L.: Introduction: Collective Memories and Colonial Violence. Internat. J. Conflict and Violence 4(1), 4–10 (2010)

    Google Scholar 

  27. Leone, G., Mastrovito, T.: Learning About Our Shameful Past: A Socio-Psychological Analysis of Present-Day Historical Narratives of Italian Colonial Wars. Internat. J. Conflict and Violence 4(1), 11–27 (2010)

    Google Scholar 

  28. Kelman, H.C.: Reconciliation from a Socio- Psychological Perspective. In: Nadler, A., Malloy, T.E., Fisher, J.D. (eds.) The Social Psychology of Intergroup Reconciliation, pp. 15–32. Oxford University Press, New York (2008)

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  29. Nadler, A., Shnabel, N.: Instrumental and Socioemotional Paths to Intergroup Reconciliation and the Needs-Based Model of Socioemotional Reconciliation. In: Nadler, A., Malloy, T.E., Fisher, J.D. (eds.) The Social Psychology of Intergroup Reconciliation, pp. 37–56. Oxford University Press, New York (2008)

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  30. Leone, G.: La Memoria Autobiografica. Conoscenza di Sé e Appartenenze Sociali (AutoBiographical Memory. Self-awareness and Social Belonging). Carocci, Roma (2001)

    Google Scholar 

  31. Arendt, H.: The Origins of Totalitarianism. Harcourt Brace, New York (1951)

    Google Scholar 

  32. Neisser, U.: Nested Structure in Autobiographical Memory. In: Rubin, D.C. (ed.) Autobiographical Memory, pp. 71–88. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge (1986)

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  33. Rubin, D.C. (ed.): Autobiographical memory. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge (1986)

    Google Scholar 

  34. Poggi, I.: Mind, Hands, Face and Body. A Goal and Belief View of Multimodal Communication. Weidler, Berlin (2007)

    Google Scholar 

  35. Arendt, H.: The Human Condition. University of Chicago Press, Chicago and London (1958)

    Google Scholar 

  36. Volpato, C., Durante, F., Gabbiadini, A., Andrighetto, L., Mari, S.: Picturing the Other: Targets of Delegitimization across Time. Internat. J. Conflict and Violence 4(2), 269–287 (2010)

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Dept. of Communication and Social Research (CORIS), “Sapienza” University, Rome, Italy

    Giovanna Leone

Authors
  1. Giovanna Leone
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Dipartimento di Filosofia, Comunicazione e Spettacolo, Università Roma Tre, 00146, Rome, Italy

    Isabella Poggi

  2. Faculty of Psychology, Uninettuno International Telematic University (Utiu), 00186, Rome, Italy

    Francesca D’Errico

  3. Department of Education, Università Roma Tre, 00146, Rome, Italy

    Laura Vincze

  4. Computer Science, University of Glasgow, G12 8QQ, Glasgow, UK

    Alessandro Vinciarelli

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2013 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg

About this paper

Cite this paper

Leone, G. (2013). Sometimes I, Sometimes Me: A Study on the Use of Autobiographical Memories in Two Political Speeches by Barack Obama. In: Poggi, I., D’Errico, F., Vincze, L., Vinciarelli, A. (eds) Multimodal Communication in Political Speech. Shaping Minds and Social Action. PS 2010. Lecture Notes in Computer Science(), vol 7688. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-41545-6_11

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-41545-6_11

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-642-41544-9

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-642-41545-6

  • eBook Packages: Computer ScienceComputer Science (R0)

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation