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suggesting that perhaps the main characteristic that makes Obama's choice to
include autobiographical recalls in his political speeches so effective is linked to
his parrhesia, i.e., his risky decision to speak frankly about difficult or controversial
aspects of his own origins (Foucault
2001
).
To explore empirically this new line of thought, two aspects must be developed.
First, a theoretical hypothesis must be advanced to better understand why these
self-disclosures of the social disadvantages of his origins may bolster Obama's
public image, rather than detract from it, as might have been expected at a first
sight.
Second, from a methodological point of view, innovative tools must be developed
because, according to this new theoretical framework, an analysis of the verbal
contents of Obama's statements is insufficient, and his body language must also
be taken into account. This methodology aims to grasp the powerful blend that is
observable in these communicative acts, conveying at the same time a deep self-
awareness of social prejudices targeting him and his family and a strong expression
of pride and self-confidence when freely sharing with his audience such difficult and
even humiliating contents.
17.2
Memories of Being a Pariah: The Importance
of the Parrhesiastic Attitude Characterizing
Obama's Recalls
One aspect of the novelty of Barack Obama's autobiographical recalls that makes
them somehow a unicum in contemporary political speech is the frank attitude used
by him in stressing the difficulties linked to the unconventional circumstances of his
birth. To better grasp this aspect, two theories may be invoked. The first theory, pro-
posed by Hannah Arendt (
1978
), is based on the difference between self-conscious
pariah and parvenu. The second theory, proposed by Michel Foucault (Foucault
2001
) in the last part of his scientific work, is linked to the analysis of parrhesia,
i.e., the communicative choice to speak clearly and fearlessly about difficult topics.
Within the theoretical framework proposed in this paper for analyzing how Obama
recalls his autobiographical memories during political speech, both these theories
are combined to explain why these communicative actions of frankly describing the
more embarrassing and sometimes even humiliating aspects of his life, which have
the potential to besmirch or threaten his image, are on the contrary one of the keys
to his success.
The first theory may help us to better understand the importance of the contents
shared in Obama's memories. The second theory may allow us to grasp the similar
importance of the multiple modalities used for this social sharing: considering at
the same time not only the words but also the way in which they are conveyed by
Obama's body language: his face, his gaze, his voice, his gestures, his posture, his
emotive reactions to the difficult moments reenacted during his memories.
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