Us and Them. The role of persuasive and manipulative strategies in creation of public enemies
PDF

Keywords

rhetorics
political discourse
persuasion
manipulation
labelling
public enemy
Cicero
Miloš Zeman

How to Cite

Petrovićová, Katarina. 2019. “Us and Them. The Role of Persuasive and Manipulative Strategies in Creation of Public Enemies”. In Gremium. Studies in History, Culture and Politics, no. 13 (December). https://doi.org/10.34768/ig.vi13.336.

Abstract

Cicero was during his live one of the most successful orators in Rome. His ability to express his meanings and ideas in the most persuasive way did not impress only his contemporaries, but influenced the art of rhetoric generally. We admire the argumentative strength, the verbal copiousness, the most striking rhetorical skill is, however, his manipulative force, the allocution of the listener, “ut moveatur vehementius” (Cic. Brut. 49, 185). In the paper, I would like to analyze Cicero’s persuasive and manipulative strategies, particularly his ability to indicate a public enemy, in order to make a comparison between Cicero’s speeches and speeches and statements of our current president Miloš Zeman, who is considered to be an appropriate counterpart to Cicero discourse (using and abusing such rhetorical devices).

https://doi.org/10.34768/ig.vi13.336
PDF

References

Andoková, M. (2016). The role of captatio benevolentiae in the interaction between the speaker and his audience in Antiquity and today. Systasis, 29, pp. 1–14. Available at: http://www.systasis.org/pdfs/systasis_29_1.pdf [Accessed 15 Apr. 2018].
Appleby, N. (2010). Labelling the innocent: how government counterterrorism advice creates labels that contribute to the problem. Critical Studies on Terrorism, 3(3), pp. 421-436. DOI: 10.1080/17539153.2010.521643.
Atkinson, M. (1984). Our Masters' Voices: The Language and Body Language of Politics. London and New York: Methuen.
Baele, S. J., Sterck, O. C., Slingeneyer, T. and Lits, G. P. (2017). What Does the “Terrorist” Label Really Do? Measuring and Explaining the Effects of the “Terrorist” and “Islamist” Categories. Studies in Conflict & Terrorism, [pdf] 21 pages. DOI: 10.1080/1057610X.2017.1393902.
Barrinha, A. (2011). The political importance of labelling: terrorism and Turkey’s discourse on the PKK. Terrorism and Political Violence, 4(2), pp. 163-180. DOI: 10.1080/17539153.2011.586203.
Beck, G. (2005). Verbotene Rhetorik: Die Kunst der skrupellosen Manipulation. Eichborn Verlag: Frankfurt am Main.
Bohuslavová, R. (2016). Mluví Ovčáček na Twitteru místo prezidenta? Jasno nemají ani na Hradě [Does Ovčáček speak instead of President on Twitter? They do not know even at the Castle.]. Echo.24, [online] 26. 12. 2016. http://echo24.cz/a/iUU5h/mluvi-ovcacek-na-twitteru-misto-prezidenta-jasno-nemaji-ani-na-hrade [Accessed 15 Mar. 2018].
Bralczyk, J. (1987). O języku polskiej propagandy politycznej lat siedemdziesiątych (Acta Universitatis Upsaliensis. Studia Slavica Upsaliensia; vol. 24). Stockholm: Almqvist och Wiksell.
Čejka, M., Bureš, J. and Daniel, J. (2017). Muslimské bratrstvo v současnosti [Muslim Brotherhood Today]. Praha: Academia.
Chilton, P. (2004). Analysing Political Discourse: Theory and Practice. London: Routledge.
Cohen, S. (2002). Folk Devils and Moral Panics: The Creation of the Mods and Rockers. 3rd ed. London and New York: Routledge.
CTITF 2018: Un.org/en/counterterrorism, (2018). Counter-Terrorism Implementation Task Force: Entities. [online] United Nations. Available at: https://www.un.org/counterterrorism/ctitf/en/structure [Accessed 10 Apr. 2018].
ČTK and Kubištová, P. (2016). Skvělý rétor i podporovatel propagandy: Politiky Zemanův projev rozdělil [Brilliant rhetor and supporter of propaganda: Politicians divided by Zeman's speech]. iDnes.cz, [online] 26. 12. 2016. Available at: http://zpravy.idnes.cz/reakce-politiku-na-projev-prezidenta-zemana-fzh-/domaci.aspx?c=A161226_135753_domaci_pku [Accessed 2 Apr. 2018].
David, M. K. (2014). Language, Power and Manipulation: The Use of Rhetoric in Maintaining Political Influence. Frontiers of Language and Teaching, 2014, 5(1), 164-170.
Entman, R. M. (1993). Framing: Toward clarification of a fractured paradigm. Journal of Communication, 43(4), pp. 51-58. DOI: 10.1111/j.1460-2466.1993.tb01304.x.
Fairclough, N.(1989). Language and Power. London: Longman.
Fendrych, M. (2013). Komentář: 14 pozitiv prezidenta Miloše Zemana [Commentary: 14 positives of Mr. President Miloš Zeman]. Aktuálně.cz, [online] 11. 3. 2013. Available at: https://nazory.aktualne.cz/komentare/komentar-14-pozitiv-prezidenta-milose-zemana/r~i:article:773527/?redirected=1504022404 [Accessed 1 Apr. 2018].
Gass, R. H. and Siter, J. S. (2015). Persuasion: Social Inflence and Compliance Gaining. 5th ed. London: Routledge.
Gregor, M. and Vejvodová, P. (2017). Analýza manipulativních technik na vybraných českých serverech [Analysis of manipulative techniques on the selected Czech Servers]. [online]. Faculty of Social Studies, Masaryk University. Available from: http://www.evropskehodnoty.cz/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/Vyzkumna_zprava_Analyza_manipulativnich.pdf [Accessed 10 Sept. 2017].
Grice, H. P. (1975). Logic and conversation. In: P. Cole and J. L. Morgan, eds., Syntax and semantics, 3: Speech Acts. New York: Academic Press, pp. 41–58.
GTD 2017: National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism. (2017). Global Terrorism Database [online]. Available at: https://www.start.umd.edu/gtd [Accessed 11 Apr. 2018].
GTI 2015: Institute for economics & peace (IEP). (2015). Glogal Terrorism Index: Measuring and understanding the impact of terrorism. 1st ed. [pdf] (NOV 2015 / IEP REPORT 36). Available at: http://economicsandpeace.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/Global-Terrorism-Index-2015.pdf [Accessed 15 Mar. 2018].
GTI 2016: Institute for economics & peace (IEP). (2016). Glogal Terrorism Index: Measuring and understanding the impact of terrorism. 1st ed. [pdf] (NOV 2016 / IEP REPORT 43). Available at: http://economicsandpeace.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/Global-Terrorism-Index-2016.2.pdf [Accessed 15 Mar. 2018].
Hoffeld, D. (2018). The Difference Between Persuasion & Manipulation. [online] Hoffeld Group. Available at: https://www.hoffeldgroup.com/sales-articles/the-difference-between-persuasion-manipulation/ [Accessed 1 Apr. 2018].
Ki-moon, Ban (2016). Report of the Secretary-General on the threat posed by ISIL (Da’esh) to international peace and security and the range of United Nations efforts in support of Member States in countering the threat. 1st ed. [pdf] New York: United Nations Security Council, S/2016/92, 29 January 2016, p. 3. Available at: http://www.un.org/ga/search/view_doc.asp?symbol=S/2016/92 [Accessed 15 Mar. 2018].
Kůsová, L. (2015). Prezidentské projevy Miloše Zemana [Miloš Zeman's Presidential Speeches]. B.A. Charles University.
Ladsous, H. (2014). Remarks by the Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations on new challenges and priorities for UN Peacekeeping at the Brookings Institution (17 June 2014). [online] United Nations Peacekeeping: USG Peacekeeping. Available at: https://peacekeeping.un.org/en/remarks-under-secretary-general-peacekeeping-operations-new-challenges-and-priorities-un [Accessed 12 Apr. 2018].
Ladsous, H. (2015). Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations Hervé Ladsous' Statement to the Fourth Committee (30 October 2015). [online] United Nations Peacekeeping: USG Peacekeeping. Available at: https://peacekeeping.un.org/en/statement-under-secretary-general-peacekeeping-operations-herve-ladsous-to-fourth-committee-1 [Accessed 12 Apr. 2018].
Leech, G. (1983). The interpersonal role of the Cooperative Principle, The Tact Maxim, A survey of the Interpersonal Rhetoric. In: Principles of pragmatics. London, New York: Longman Group Ltd., pp. 79-151.
Legal.un.org, (2018). Ad Hoc Committee established by General Assembly resolution 51/210 of 17 December 1996. [online] Available at: http://legal.un.org/committees/terrorism/ [Accessed 15 Mar. 2018].
Lotko, E. Kapitoly ze současné rétoriky. Olomouc: Vydavatelství Univerzity Palackého, 1999.
McGinnis, A. L. (1985). Bringing Out the Best in People: How to Enjoy Helping Others Excell. Minneapolis: Augsburg Publ. House.
Messner, J. J. ed. (2016). Fragile State Index Annual Report 2016. 1st ed. [pdf] Washington, D.C.: The Fund for Peace, p. 7. Available at: http://fundforpeace.org/fsi/2016/06/27/fragile-states-index-2016-annual-report/ [Accessed 15 Mar. 2018].
Mukařovský, J. (1948). Kapitoly z české poetiky: Díl I. Obecné věci básnictví [Chapters from Czech Poetics: Part 1. General aspects of poetry]. 2nd ed. Praha: Svoboda.
Mynářová, A. and Zeman, M. (2017). Rozhovor prezidenta republiky pro pořad TV Barrandov „Týden s prezidentem“ [Interview with the president of CR for the broadcast of TV Barrandov “The week with Mr. President”]. 1 June 2017. [online] Available at https://www.hrad.cz/cs/prezident-cr/soucasny-prezident-cr/vybrane-projevy-a-rozhovory/rozhovor-prezidenta-republiky-pro-porad-tv-barrandov-tyden-s-prezidentem-10-13427 [Accessed 1 Apr. 2018].
Ovčáček, J. (2017). Pro vykladače VH, Strakovku a nečestná média. Má trojjediná úloha: 1) Prezentuji názory p. prez. 2) Hájím názory p. prez. 3) Hájím p. prez. [For expositors of Václav Havel, Straka's Academy and dishonest media. My trinitarian role: 1) I represent opinions of Mr. President 2) I defend opinions of Mr. Pres. 3) I defend Mr. Pres.] February 5, 2017, 15:33. [Twitter status update] Available at https://twitter.com/PREZIDENTmluvci/status/828386127027507207 [Accessed 1 Apr. 2018].
Ovčáček, J. (2018). Jiří Ovčáček: Tiskový mluvčí prezidenta republiky a ředitel Tiskového odboru Kanceláře prezidenta republiky [Jiří Ovčáček: President of the Czech republic Spokesman and Director of the Press Department]. Twitter. [online] Available at https://twitter.com/prezidentmluvci [Accessed 1 Apr. 2018].
Petrusek, M. (2018). s. v. Labelling. In: Z. R. Nešpor ed., Sociologická encyklopedie online. Sociologický ústav AV ČR, v.v.i. Available at: https://encyklopedie.soc.cas.cz/w/Labelling [Accessed 2 Sept. 2017].
Petrů, E. (2000). Úvod do literární vědy [Introduction in the literary studies]. Olomouc: Rubico.
Ross, R. (1994.) Understanding Persuasion. 4th ed. Englewood Cliffs, N. J.: Prentice Hall.
Soukup, J. and Zeman, M. (2017a). Rozhovor prezidenta republiky pro pořad TV Barrandov „Týden s prezidentem“ [Interview with the president of CR for the broadcast of TV Barrandov “The week with Mr. President”]. 6 April 2017. [online] Available at https://www.hrad.cz/cs/prezident-cr/soucasny-prezident-cr/vybrane-projevy-a-rozhovory/rozhovor-prezidenta-republiky-pro-porad-tv-barrandov-tyden-s-prezidentem-3-13286 [Accessed 1 Apr. 2018].
Soukup, J. and Zeman, M. (2017b). Rozhovor prezidenta republiky pro pořad TV Barrandov „Týden s prezidentem“ [Interview with the president of CR for the broadcast of TV Barrandov “The week with Mr. President”]. 13 April 2017. [online] Available at https://www.hrad.cz/cs/prezident-cr/soucasny-prezident-cr/vybrane-projevy-a-rozhovory/rozhovor-prezidenta-republiky-pro-porad-tv-barrandov-tyden-s-prezidentem-4-13304 [Accessed 1 Apr. 2018].
Soukup, J. and Zeman, M. (2017c). Rozhovor prezidenta republiky pro pořad TV Barrandov „Týden s prezidentem“ [Interview with the president of CR for the broadcast of TV Barrandov “The week with Mr. President”]. 11 May 2017. [online] Available at https://www.hrad.cz/cs/prezident-cr/soucasny-prezident-cr/vybrane-projevy-a-rozhovory/rozhovor-prezidenta-republiky-pro-porad-tv-barrandov-tyden-s-prezidentem-8-13362#from-list [Accessed 1 Apr. 2018].
Soukup, J. and Zeman, M. (2017d). Rozhovor prezidenta republiky pro pořad TV Barrandov „Týden s prezidentem“ [Interview with the president of CR for the broadcast of TV Barrandov “The week with Mr. President”]. 18 May 2017. [online] Available at https://www.hrad.cz/cs/prezident-cr/soucasny-prezident-cr/vybrane-projevy-a-rozhovory/rozhovor-prezidenta-republiky-pro-porad-tv-barrandov-tyden-s-prezidentem-9-13371 [Accessed 1 Apr. 2018].
Soukup, J. and Zeman, M. (2017e). Rozhovor prezidenta republiky pro pořad TV Barrandov „Týden s prezidentem“ [Interview with the president of CR for the broadcast of TV Barrandov “The week with Mr. President”]. 8 June 2017. [online] Available at https://www.hrad.cz/cs/prezident-cr/soucasny-prezident-cr/vybrane-projevy-a-rozhovory/rozhovor-prezidenta-republiky-pro-porad-tv-barrandov-tyden-s-prezidentem-11-13438 [Accessed 1 Apr. 2018].
Soukup, J. and Zeman, M. (2017f). Rozhovor prezidenta republiky pro pořad TV Barrandov „Týden s prezidentem“ [Interview with the president of CR for the broadcast of TV Barrandov “The week with Mr. President”]. 31 August 2017. [online] Available at https://www.hrad.cz/cs/prezident-cr/soucasny-prezident-cr/vybrane-projevy-a-rozhovory/rozhovor-prezidenta-republiky-pro-porad-tv-barrandov-tyden-s-prezidentem-16-13566#from-list [Accessed 1 Apr. 2018].
STEM/MARK (2013). Prezidentské volby 2013: 2. kolo [Presidential election 2013: Round 2]. [online] Závěrečná zpráva z exkluzivního výzkumu pro ČT [Exclusive research final report for Czech Television], pp. 5 and 44. Available at: http://img2.ct24.cz/multimedia/documents/44/4325/432431.pdf [Accessed 13 Apr. 2018].
Trump 2016: White, D., ed. (2016). Read Donald Trump's Ohio Speech on Immigration and Terrorism. TIME: Politics, [online] 15 Aug. 2016. Available at: http://time.com/4453110/donald-trump-national-security-immigration-terrorism-speech/ [Accessed 15 Mar. 2018].
UN OCT 2018: Un.org/en/counterterrorism, (2018). United Nations Office of Counter-Terrorism. [online] United Nations. Available at: https://www.un.org/en/counterterrorism/ [Accessed 10 Apr. 2018].
van den Broek, H.-P. (2017). Labelling and Legitimization: Justifying Political Violence in the Basque Country. Terrorism and Political Violence, 29(1), pp. 119-136. DOI: 10.1080/09546553.2014.995788.
Zeman, M. (2015). Address of the President of the Czech Republic at the 70th Session of the UN General Assembly. 29 September 2015. [online] Pražský hrad: Prezident ČR [Prague Castle: President of the CR]. Available at: https://www.hrad.cz/cs/prezident-cr/soucasny-prezident-cr/vybrane-projevy-a-rozhovory/address-of-the-president-of-the-czech-republic-at-the-70th-session-of-the-un-general-assembly-12264 [Accessed 10 Apr. 2018].
Zeman 2016a: Zeman, M. (2016). Speech of the President of the Czech Republic at the 71st session of UN General Assembly. 21 September 2016. [online] Prague Castle: President of the CR. Available at: https://www.hrad.cz/en/president-of-the-cr/current-president-of-the-cr/selected-speeches-and-interviews/speech-of-the-president-of-the-czech-republic-at-the-71st-session-of-un-general-assembly-12939 [Accessed 10 Apr. 2018].
Zeman 2016b: Zeman, M. (2016). Projev prezidenta republiky při setkání s vedoucími zastupitelských úřadů ČR v zahraničí. 24. srpna 2016 [Speech of the President of the Czech Republic at the Meeting with the Heads of CR Missions Abroad]. [online] Pražský hrad: Prezident ČR [Prague Castle: President of the CR]. Available at: https://www.hrad.cz/cs/prezident-cr/soucasny-prezident-cr/vybrane-projevy-a-rozhovory/projev-prezidenta-republiky-pri-setkani-s-vedoucimi-zastupitelskych-uradu-cr-v-zahranici-12846 [Accessed 15 Mar. 2018].
Zeman, M. (2017). Speech of the President of the Czech Republic at the 72nd session of UN General Assembly. 19 September 2017. [online] Prague Castle: President of the CR. Available at: https://www.hrad.cz/en/president-of-the-cr/current-president-of-the-cr/selected-speeches-and-interviews/speech-of-the-president-of-the-czech-republic-at-the-72nd-session-of-un-general-assembly-13609 [Accessed 10 Apr. 2018].
Zeman, M. (2018). Miloš Zeman – prezident České republiky [Miloš Zeman –President of the Czech Republic]. Facebook. [online] Available at https://www.facebook.com/prezidentcr/ [Accessed 15 Mar. 2018].