The multiplicity of identification and agency in Asian rhetoric: The analysis of the U.S. Congress speeches of Asian female political leaders through feminine rhetorical style
This study explores the rhetoric of Asian female political leaders and its influence on audiences. Using a feminine rhetorical style as an analytical framework, it examines the speeches of three Asian female leaders – Madame Chiang (Soong Mei-ling), Corazon Aquino, and Benazir Bhutto – in their address to the U.S. Congress, and identifies their rhetorical inventions and strategies. It illustrates how the orators utilize the feminine style to construct multiple forms of identification and agency to enhance rhetorical force on audiences. Findings suggest that creating a sense of caring ethics and anaphoric sentences can facilitate the use of the feminine style in constituting audiences to achieve political purposes. The study complicates the theory of the feminine style by including the multiplicity of identification and agency to discuss their rhetoric. Also, it provides a case study of Asian rhetoric by offering suggestions and implications for future research.
