Study on Speech Discourse in the Christmas Broadcasts Made by Queen Elizabeth II and King Charles III from Perspective of Aristotle’s Rhetoric
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.54097/ijeh.v11i3.14917Keywords:
Aristotle’s rhetoric, Christmas, Broadcasts, Pathos, Speech.Abstract
The royal Christmas speeches have a history of nearly 100 years and are now an indispensable part of the British and European Christmas calendar. It began in 1932 when King George V delivered it, starting a new tradition of Christmas in Britain. For many British families, it is an annual tradition to watch the Queen’s Christmas broadcasts at 3 pm on the Christmas Day. And this Christmas, the first Christmas delivery by King Charles III, is of some historical significance. Analyzing the Queen’s and King’s Christmas speeches from a rhetorical perspective provides an insight into Western cultural traditions. This article takes the Queen’s Christmas broadcast of 2021 and King Charles’s Christmas speech of 2022 as the research objects and analyses their speeches in depth based on Aristotle’s rhetoric. The article shows that the two speeches are similar in style and place more emphasis on pathos. The Christmas speeches of the British Royal Family have become a source of spiritual support or solace for people.
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