Retelling stories in political discourse: the recurrence of self-narratives in Obama's speeches

Drawing upon the Schiffrin's analytical model of footing, positioning, and stances as mechanisms for reframing and re-voicing experiences, this study (as a qualitative approach) investigates the contextualization of an event through the narration of stories in the practical domain of political discourse, specifically presidential speeches. To accomplish this goal, a discourse analysis is conducted on four stories in four political speeches delivered by Barack Obama, the former president of the United States to identify the evolution in their structural composition. The model of attitudinal stance proposed by Qaiwer is integrated into the analysis. The primary objective of this study is to investigate the concept of hegemony seeking within the framework of narrative-based discourse analysis. The focus is on the correlation between the narrative and the formation of attitudes, rather than on the narrative itself. The analysis reveals variations in the four recounted versions presented by Obama in different contexts. These noticeable changes and discrepancies may be attributed to the specific objectives of each speech, whether focused on self/other campaigning or policy advocacy.