Here you can also read the transcription of the speech:
http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2011/03/20/remarks-president-people-brazil-rio-de-janeiro-brazil
lunedì 3 dicembre 2012
Obama's speech in Rio 2011
I am having so much fun here in Rio and I am meeting new people everyday. Brazilians are so friendly and outgoing! I especially enjoy João's company, he's my guide and is teaching me few words of Portuguese. He's politically engaged, aware and proud of the role that Brazil can have in the world. Last year the US president Obama came here in Rio and João was there, standing in Teatro Municipal to listen to him. He told me it has been an amazing experience and Obama is a great speaker. I found the video of the speech online and you can write down your impressions if you want!
Here you can also read the transcription of the speech:
http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2011/03/20/remarks-president-people-brazil-rio-de-janeiro-brazil
Here you can also read the transcription of the speech:
http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2011/03/20/remarks-president-people-brazil-rio-de-janeiro-brazil
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This speech is very similar to other speeches made by Obama, such as "Remarks by the president on a new beginning" in Cairo University, on 4t June 2009.
RispondiEliminaFrom paragraph 9 to paragraph 19, there are a few things to note:
- The use of repetition to emphasize: we .... p.17-8, people .... 12-3, for so long ... p.16
- Historical notes: p.10, p.12, p.16
-The use of abstract concepts: p.9 freedom
-List of three: p.10 “right to be heard - the right to be free from fear, free from want”
-Informal language: we ... people.
-Claptrap with the use of typical Brazilian word: “meous amigos” p.17
-Obama's foreign policy such as mutual respect : cooperation ..., p.17 "we can do it", "spirit of mutual interest and mutual respect", p.9 freedom, p.10 democracy.
The politics of Obama's foreign is based on cooperation between the different states and dialogue with other governances, because the main intent of Obama is to maintain peace and security all over the world. Democracy is a great achievement not only for Brazil but also for the United States, because the economic development opportunities are greater. It is a country that has a lot to offer in many ways, in terms of cultural, social, political and economic. With this speech, Obama acknowledged the great efforts made by Brazilian authorities and population.
The idea of cooperation is present all over the speech. Obama repeats the word “together” in paragraphs 22 and 23, he uses the first person plural “we” (p. 23: we're working together, we seek, we're working together, we're working side by side). USA and Brazil have lot in common, their aims are similar and for each of them he explains what the two countries are doing. From paragraph 19 to 21 he mentions different sectors and gives reasons for what governments are doing: innovation and technology, infrastructure, global economy → which is why, which is way, that's why.
RispondiEliminaThe two countries are on the same level, they are working together and for both of them Obama uses active verbs (we're working, building, create, combat..), The main goals the two countries can achieve together are stressed in a particular way:
- better world for next generations: to share technologies, create new jobs, and leave our children a world that is cleaner (list of three, p.22).
- Economic aid to Japanese people: we will pray with them, and stand with them, and rebuild with them (p.24)
- peace and prosperity: not just because we share history, not just because we’re in the same hemisphere; not just because we share ties of commerce and culture, but also because we share certain enduring values and ideals. (p.25)
From paragraph 26 Obama's speech deals with democracy, and he uses the first person singular “I” only to admit that the democratic process can be difficult, but WE can perfect it (p. 29). He distances himself from those who don't believe that this is possible (And those who argue otherwise, those who argue that democracy stands in the way of economic progress, they must contend with the example of Brazil. p.26, repeatition)
At the beginning of the speech Obama creates a connection with the audience using Brazilian words and sentences as “Alo! Cidade! Maravilhoso! Boa tarde, todo o povo brasileiro, obrigado”
RispondiEliminaThis connection continues talking about the football game between Vasco and Botafogo; also his first experience of Brazil when he watched a movie called Black Orpheus with his mother.
President Obama sharing something personal and showing his interest in Brazilian tradition, puts himself as an equal with the rest of the audience, and he uses a very colloquial language, for example, he starts two times using the word “Now...”
At the fifth paragraph the introduction ends, after some compliments for the amazing landscapes and for the presence of so many people of different groups “Cariocas, Paulistas, Baianas and Mineiros”.
The main issue treated in the speech is to strengthen the partnership between United States of America and Brazil, not only between the governments but also between the nations.
“ I’ve come here to share some ideas because I want to speak of the values that we share, the hopes that we have in common, and the difference that we can make together”
From here after Obama will always use expressions like “our lands” “our brave men and women” “we became colonies...we welcomed waves of immigrants” “both our nations struggled to achieve the full blessing of liberty”
In this last part of president Obama’s speech there many rhetorical tricks. The most common ones are:
RispondiElimina*the use of abstract concepts (par. 30, 33, 37);
*the referral to mutual respect, to action of cooperation and to similarities that ties the two countries together (par. 32, 34, 37, 38);
*the use of repetition, to empathize an idea or certain words (par. 34);
*a remark to the importance of ordinary people and of their actions.
It can be said that this conclusion aims to strength the tie among the US and Brazil by lighting the similarities and the valuable traits of the two societies. Obama focuses rather much on the idea of democracy, revolution, human rights and people demand for them.
P.30 But we also know that there’s certain aspirations shared by every human being (abstract concept): We all seek to be free (abstract concept). We all seek to be heard (abstract concept). We all yearn to live without fear or discrimination. We all yearn to choose how we are governed. And we all want to shape our own destiny. These are not American ideals or Brazilian ideals. These are not Western ideals. These are universal rights (abstract concept), and we must support them everywhere. (Applause.)
RispondiEliminaP.31 Today, we are seeing the struggle for these rights unfold across the Middle East and North Africa. We’ve seen a revolution born out of a yearning for basic human dignity in Tunisia. We’ve seen peaceful protestors pour into Tahrir Square -– men and women, young and old, Christian and Muslim. We’ve seen the people of Libya take a courageous stand against a regime determined to brutalize its own citizens. Across the region, we’ve seen young people rise up -– a new generation demanding the right to determine their own future.
P.32 From the beginning, we have made clear that the change they seek must be driven by their own people. But for our two nations, for the United States and Brazil, two nations who have struggled over many generations to perfect our own democracies (mutual respect), the United States and Brazil know that the future of the Arab World will be determined by its people.
P.33 No one can say for certain how this change will end, but I do know that change is not something that we should fear. When young people insist that the currents of history are on the move, the burdens of the past can be washed away. When men and women peacefully claim their human rights, our own common humanity is enhanced. Wherever the light of freedom is lit, the world becomes a brighter place. (abstract concept)
P.34 That is the example of Brazil (mutual respect). That is the example of Brazil. (repetition) (Applause.) Brazil -– a country that shows that a dictatorship can become a thriving democracy. Brazil -– a country that shows democracy delivers both freedom and opportunity to its people. Brazil -- a country that shows how a call for change that starts in the streets can transform a city, transform a country, transform a world.
P.35 Decades ago, it was directly outside of this theater, in Cinelandia Square, where the call for change was heard in Brazil. Students and artists and political leaders of all stripes would gather with banners that said, “Down with the dictatorship. The people in power.” Their democratic aspirations would not be fulfilled until years later, but one of the young Brazilians in that generation’s movement would go on to forever change the history of this country.
RispondiEliminaP.36 A child of an immigrant, her participation in the movement led to her arrest and her imprisonment, her torture at the hands of her own government. And so she knows what it’s like to live without the most basic human rights that so many are fighting for today. But she also knows what it is to persevere. She knows what it is to overcome -- because today that woman is your nation’s president, Dilma Rousseff. (Applause.)
P.37 Our two nations face many challenges (mutual respect). On the road ahead, we will certainly encounter many obstacles. But in the end, it is our history that gives us hope for a better tomorrow (abstract concept). It is the knowledge that the men and women who came before us have triumphed over greater trials than these -– that we live in places where ordinary people have done extraordinary things.
P.38 It’s that sense of possibility, that sense of optimism that first drew pioneers to this New World. It’s what binds our nations together (mutual respect) as partners in this new century. It’s why we believe, in the words of Paul Coelho, one of your most famous writers, “With the strength of our love and our will, we can change our destiny, as well as the destiny of many others.”
Muito obrigado. Thank you. And may God bless our two nations. Thank you very much. (Applause.)
END
3:17 P.M. BRT