Critical Discourse Analysis of an Inaugural Speech Based on Halliday’s Systemic Functional Grammar

Abstract

This study, from the perspective of critical discourse analysis (CDA), based on Halliday’s Systemic Functional Grammar, analyzes Biden’s inaugural speech from both macro and micro levels. At the micro level, it focuses on the language strategies used in the speech, analyzes the subject words of high frequency, transitivity and modality concerning textual meta-function, ideational meta-function and interpersonal meta-function of SFG. At the macro level, the interrelationship between language, power and ideology behind the text features is investigated and discussed. On the one hand, this study attempts to dig out the choice and usage of words by showing the distribution of subject words of high frequency and modal words. On the other hand, it tries to delineate how the language works to construct a privileged public speaker, thus to indicate the interrelationship between discourse, power and ideology. Transitivity analysis discloses Americans’ hegemony ideology as the leading power in the world stage. Subject words of frequency reflect that “freedom” and “democracy” have been used as tools to manipulate the power. Modality analysis reveals that Biden was trying to maintain and consolidate his power. The study of the interrelationship between language, power and ideology is conducive to exploration into the ideological construction behind discourse, and thus reveal the truth of political discourse.