Political leaders and COVID-19: A linguistic analysis of crisis communication by Joe Biden and Boris Johnson

Ivan VETOSHKIN

Bachelor's thesis

Abstract:

The aim of the present thesis is to analyse and compare the communicative strategies of British and American political leaders, namely the Prime Minister of the UK Boris Johnson and the President of the USA Joe Biden, in the context of crisis communication regarding the COVID-19 pandemic. In particular, the thesis compares the speeches the abovementioned leaders gave from January to May 2021, using discourse analysis and corpus methods. The theoretical section focuses on crisis communication and some of the communicative strategies used in political speeches. The analysis identifies relevant communicative strategies the leaders employ and identifies the differences and similarities of the given speeches in terms of discursive features. The analysis shows fundamental differences in the leaders' approach to crisis communication: although both of them use the frame of war to refer to the pandemic, Joe Biden exercises and discursively constructs authority, competitiveness, and emphasises the moral obligation of the nation, while Boris Johnson utilises empathic communication to a greater extent instead and focuses on science, scientific data and common sense.

Abstract:

The aim of the present thesis is to analyse and compare the communicative strategies of British and American political leaders, namely the Prime Minister of the UK Boris Johnson and the President of the USA Joe Biden, in the context of crisis communication regarding the COVID-19 pandemic. In particular, the thesis compares the speeches the abovementioned leaders gave from January to May 2021, using discourse analysis and corpus methods. The theoretical section focuses on crisis communication and some of the communicative strategies used in political speeches. The analysis identifies relevant communicative strategies the leaders employ and identifies the differences and similarities of the given speeches in terms of discursive features. The analysis shows fundamental differences in the leaders' approach to crisis communication: although both of them use the frame of war to refer to the pandemic, Joe Biden exercises and discursively constructs authority, competitiveness, and emphasises the moral obligation of the nation, while Boris Johnson utilises empathic communication to a greater extent instead and focuses on science, scientific data and common sense.

Keywords

crisis communication, political discourse, political speech, discourse analysis, corpus analysis, COVID-19 pandemic

Language used: English

Date on which the thesis was submitted / produced: 21. 6. 2024

Accessible from:: 31. 12. 2999

Thesis defence

• Supervisor: Mgr. Dominika Beneš Kováčová, Ph.D.

University of Ostrava

Faculty of Arts

Bachelor programme / field:
English Philology / English Philology