An Analysis on Donald Trump’s Remarks Under the Power Discourse Theory on the Basis of Corpus-aided

【Abstract】This thesis is written under the guidance of power discourse theory. In the framework of quantitative research， this thesis tries to figure out how Trumps language helps him to win the election， and the relation among his language， his victory and the political correctness in the United States by using Michel Foucaults power discourse theory and corpus-aided study.

【Key words】The U.S. presidential election; Political correctness; Donald Trumps language， Corpus-aided Study

【作者簡介】張昕怡（1995-），女，山東煙臺(tái)人，浙江大學(xué)2017級(jí)碩士研究生，外國語言學(xué)及應(yīng)用語言學(xué)專業(yè)，研究方向：跨文化交際。

Ⅰ. Research Objective

This thesis aims to explain the relation between Donald Trumps language and his victory， trying to illustrate its his anti-politically correct language that plays a vital role in his success.

Ⅱ.Data and Methods

In terms of analysis， this thesis uses the method of corpus-aided study by the assist of antconc， which mainly contributes to counting the frequency of the anti-political words and checking in which contexts they tend to emerge. Many of Trumps speeches are marked by political correctness. This thesis mainly focuses on four parts： gender， religion， cursing words， and political relations. Combined with his images known by people and widely promoted by the media during the election campaign， 20 words are chosen to be the indicators in the corpus. Further analysis is made on the basis of the contexts these indicators tend to emerge. Meanwhile， the frequency of these indicators will also be shown.

Ⅲ. Results

Political correctness in America has been a bit away from its initial aim—to protect equal rights. A famous columnist， Tao Jie， in his article， called the political correctness in the United States as “ the Western Version of the Great Cultural Revolution”（Tao， 2009， p.21）. It seems to go to the opposite side， and people in America have already realized it and yearn for changes. By breaking the orders made by previous political correctness， his words are given power. By telling the truth most of people recognize is right， that kind of power is strengthened. Through his words he has successfully shaped an image of being a tough leader and a man who dares to call a spade a spade， which won him a lot of votes， and therefore made him powerful. His inflammatory words and consistent attitudes on anti-political correctness are one of the crucial reasons for his final triumph.

Ⅳ.Conclusions

Discourse， at bottom， is power.The main study subject of this thesis is Donald Trumps political incorrect language， which has shown his attitude on anti-political correctness. The subordinate study subject is the political correctness existing in the United States， because it is necessary to study on it to further analyze why Donald Trumps political incorrect language can cast such a great influence on his victory.

By using the power discourse theory and the method of critical analysis of this theory and the corpus-aided study， this thesis analyzes specific examples of the main subject， and illustrates on the current situation the subordinate subject is facing. It can be drawn to conclusion that Donald Trumps political incorrect language is a key reason hidden for his victory.

References：

[1]Ashish Joshi. （2017）. Trumps language ‘obeys no known laws of conventional grammar. Sky News [On-line]. 20 April， 2017.