National identity, crisis, and the inaugural genre: George W. Bush and 9/11

• Mike Milford ^[1]
  1. [1] Auburn University

     Auburn University

     Estados Unidos

     
• Localización: Southern communication journal, ISSN 1041-794X, Vol. 81, nº 1, 2016, págs. 18-31
• Idioma: inglés
• Texto completo no disponible (Saber más ...)
• Resumen

  • Presidential crisis research typically focuses on crises that are rhetorically constructed in order to justify a preexisting policy. However, the research makes a clear exception for that tendency in the case of military attacks. I argue that in such cases presidential crisis rhetoric is formally and functionally different because it must take into account the state of the audience. Bush’s speech after 9/11 is just such a case. In the speech, Bush carefully addresses the state of the audience by tapping into the elements of the inaugural as a means to restore national identity through American Exceptionalism.