1. Critical Discourse Analysis of
Obama's Political Discourse

2. is a struggle for power
in order to put certain political, economic
and social ideas into practice.
Language plays a crucial role there.

3. Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) objective is to
perceive language use as social practice.
The users of language do not function in isolation,
but in a set of cultural, social and psychological
frameworks.

4. The inaugural address of president Barack
Obama can be internally divided into the
following six parts:
1. Thanking his predecessor
2. Acknowledging the economic crisis
3. Pointing out crisis of the past
4. Addressing cynics
5. Addressing the World
6. The solution lies with the people

5. The speech consists of 2403 words.
Keyword Repeats
Nation 12
New 11
America 9
Today 7
People 7
Less 7
World 7
Time 6
Work 6

6. Keyword phrases Repeats
a new 7
our nation 5
the world 5
men and 4
and women 4
our common 4
of peace 3

7. The results of the keyword analysis
• concentration on the domestic issues, “nation”,
“our nation” being the most prominent words
and collocations
• the key attribute of Obama’s address is the
adjective “new”, which characterizes the
strategy and ideas of the new president

8. "Today I say to you
that the challenges we
face are real, they are
serious and they are
many. They will not be
met easily or in a short
span of time. But know
this America: They will
be met."
An adamant
statement full of far-
reaching resolutions, the
temporal deixis “today”
gives the air of a fresh
start.

9. "Nor is the question
before us whether the
market is a force for
good or ill. Its power to
generate wealth and
expand freedom is
unmatched.”
At this point, Obama
departs further from the
dichotomies of good
and evil, or in his case
of good or ill.

10. Key ideological components:
pragmatism, liberalism, inclusiveness,
acceptance of religious
and
ethnic diversity and unity.

11. The most prominent words are:
nation, new and America, we
which is an evidence of Obama’s inclusive
perception of the American society and a need for
unity, understood as necessary in the time of
national peril.