Politicians and orators employ words as weapons in order to exert ideological control and make an audience believe something in an ostensive way. In this regard, this study attempted to discover the connection between language, power embraced in “Finest hour” speech by Sir Winston Churchill on June 18th , 1940, a crucial period for the outcome of the Second World War. Based on a brief overview of critical discourse analysis provided by Norman Fairclough, the study followed a framework with three stages: Description, Interpretation, and Explanation. It focused on the analysis of language features, the relationship between situational and intertextual context, and the discourse process and social process. The results obtained support the idea that Churchill's skillful use of language is closely connected with his overall political goals of instilling courage, inspiring confidence and spark the national pride in his fellow countrymen in such difficult times for Britain as those of war against powerful Nazi Germany, and the fascism in general.
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Politicians and orators employ words as weapons in order to exert ideological control and make an audience believe something in an ostensive way. In this regard, this study attempted to discover the connection between language, power embraced in “Finest hour” speech by Sir Winston Churchill on June 18th , 1940, a crucial period for the outcome of the Second World War. Based on a brief overview of critical discourse analysis provided by Norman Fairclough, the study followed a framework with three stages: Description, Interpretation, and Explanation. It focused on the analysis of language features, the relationship between situational and intertextual context, and the discourse process and social process. The results obtained support the idea that Churchill's skillful use of language is closely connected with his overall political goals of instilling courage, inspiring confidence and spark the national pride in his fellow countrymen in such difficult times for Britain as those of war against powerful Nazi Germany, and the fascism in general.
