Ideograph

From DigitalRhetoricCollaborative

Revision as of 17:03, 2 May 2015

An ideograph is a word or phrase with a vague definition which represents an ambiguous and vast set of ideas. This causes ideographs to be able to be used without sending a specific message because people can be affected in several ways by the way an ideograph is used or by their own interpretation of it. Ideographs can be very useful for rhetoricians because of their ambiguity. Not only can they be used as substitutes for complex ideas, but because ideographs tend to have several different connotations attached to them, they have the potential to increase the effectiveness of a rhetorician's pathos. The term was first used by Michael Calvin McGee in 1980 to describe certain words used in political discourse.^[1] While they are not limited to politics, some of the more commonly used ideographs are frequently used in political discourse. Terms such as 'liberty', 'freedom', and 'equality' all refer to an ideology, but to no specific referent. This allows ideographs to persuade with emotions without necessarily having a significant purpose or meaning.

Introduction

One of the most easily recognizable ideographs in the 21st century is 'terrorism'. Terrorism is defined as “the use of violent acts to frighten the people in an area as a way of trying to achieve a political goal,”^[3] so the word tends to invoke a strong sense of fear among audiences. After the 9/11 terrorist attacks, President George W Bush, and later President Barack Obama, persuaded their audiences to back them on their policies regarding terrorism by using several different ideographs, including 'terrorism' itself. Specifically, you can see them do this in President Bush's speech in response to 9/11^[4]and in President Obama's remarks on National Security.^[5] The two presidents create an interesting pair of ideas when they use ideographs to speak about terrorism because, while they both use ideographs in order to provoke audiences, they have to use different techniques to provoke audiences since the goals they hope to achieve by using the ideograph 'terrorism' differ so greatly.

Artifact Analysis

'Terrorism' qualifies as an ideograph because it doesn't refer to any one specific subject, just terrorists in general. 'Terrorism' is a particularly important ideograph because of the especially strong emotion it evokes in audiences due to its relevance in today's society and its wide use among politicians and media. While 'liberty', 'freedom', and 'equality' all have fairly positive connotations and invoke a sense of nationalism, 'terrorism' has a significantly negative connotation. It reminds people of the fear they felt on 9/11 to promote a more powerful sense of national pride among audiences than 'liberty', 'freedom', or 'equality'. It is because of these traits that politicians often use the word to their advantage. However, depending on a politician's agenda, the purposes 'terrorism' and other ideographs are used to unite audiences for aren't always the same, even though similar tactics may be used. In the referenced addresses, Bush and Obama use many ideographs, including 'terrorism' itself, to promote their views and actions towards terrorists and to persuade audiences to join them in their opinions.

George W Bush's War on Terror

To start, Bush, who spoke about terrorism in the years immediately following 2001, wanted to be aggressive with his ideographs because the memory of 9/11 was fresher in audiences' minds. Bush called for a 'War on Terror' to sound more threatening and vengeful. He wanted to convince audiences that it was the moral obligation of not just the United States, but of all nations to stop terrorists as to prevent other nations from suffering a similar national tragedy.^[6] He also attacks terrorists by saying, “We will direct every resource at our command--every means of diplomacy, every tool of intelligence, every instrument of law enforcement, every financial influence, and every necessary weapon of war--to the destruction and to the defeat of the global terror network.”^[7] In this quote, Bush pairs the ideographs 'diplomacy', 'intelligence', and 'financial influence' with the more accessible ideas of 'law enforcement' and 'weapon of war' to convince audiences that the destruction and defeat of the 'global terror network' is of grave importance and requires swift action. Bush says he is going to use every available resource to take out terrorists, and that makes him appear powerful and serious.

Bush used his aggressive take on ideographs to provide audiences a sense of national pride and of sorrow. To invoke nationalism in this speech, Bush says “[Terrorists] hate what we see right here in this chamber - a democratically elected government.”^[8] The ideograph 'democracy' makes people feel prideful for living in the United States and angry at those who attacked on 9/11 because they are envious of what America stands for. He also uses ideographs to provoke his audiences by upsetting them through fear. He says, “On September the 11th, enemies of freedom committed an act of war against our country.”^[9] By referring to terrorists as 'enemies of freedom', Bush upsets audiences by telling them that 'terrorism' will cause a loss of their 'freedom'. Bush's determination to eliminate those responsible for 9/11 was infectious and his use of ideographs convinced audiences to get on the offensive against terrorists.

Barack Obama's Push for Protection

Obama began his presidency over seven years after 9/11, and despite that, he used 'terrorism' in very similar ways to how Bush did, while still using it to achieve a different goal. Obama wanted to stop using Bush's 'War on Terror', so that meant he wouldn't try to play on peoples' fear and provoke aggression. Instead of attacking terrorists with 'terrorism', Obama defended American 'rule of law' (Also an ideograph: rule of law refers to an idea, not a specific subject.) against foreign attackers who wanted to affect it. He says, “I can stand here today, as President of the United States, and say without exception or equivocation that we do not torture, and that we will vigorously protect our people while forging a strong and durable framework that allows us to fight terrorism while abiding by the rule of law.”^[10] Obama says here that it is important to fight terrorists who threaten the United States, but he emphasizes that he won't do so through means which he would consider unethical. He unites audiences by telling them that if we continue torturing terrorists, they will be further provoked and make Americans unsafe. He wants people to be concerned with morals and not with getting revenge.

Obama also applied pathos to 'terrorism' to reach his goal of ending the 'War on Terror' in similar ways to how Bush promoted the 'War on Terror'. Like Bush, Obama promotes national pride in his address on terrorism when he says “Fidelity to our values is the reason why the United States of America grew from a small string of colonies under the writ of an empire to the strongest nation in the world.”^[11] Obama uses the ideographs 'fidelity' and 'values' to make America sound proud and upstanding in reference to torture and terrorism, but it's mainly to explain why we must maintain a moral code. He also uses dejection to promote his stance on terrorism by upsetting his audience and telling them he wants to change the ways the United States fights terrorism when he says, “I banned the use of so-called enhanced interrogation techniques by the United States of America.”^[12] This sounds particularly negative because of the connotations brought about by the ideograph 'enhanced interrogation'^[13] so audiences become upset and saddened, but it makes them want to make America look less mean-spirited, not less feeble.

So while the two presidents use ideographs to support their opinions on terrorism and unite the country away from terrorists, they unite audiences in different ways. While Bush encouraged people to be aggressive and made them want to attack a group of dangerous people, Obama encouraged people to be defensive and made them want to be morally upstanding. Even though both presidents unite audiences with their various ideographs against the same group of people, they still differ because their agendas called for different responses to terrorists.

Additional Resources

- Bellinger, John B III. "An 'armed conflict'- not unlike Bush's." politico. Politico Magazine. 16 September, 2014. Web. 1 May, 2015.

- Foss, Sonja. "Ideological Criticism." Rhetorical Criticism: Exploration and Practice (4th ed.). Long Grove, Illinois: Waveland Press, 2009. 209-220.

- Long, Kelly. "'Terrorism' in the Age of Obama: The Rhetorical Evolution of President Obama’s Discourse on the 'War on Terror'." Undergraduate Review 9 (2013). 87-93.

- McGee, Michael Calvin. "The 'ideograph': A link between rhetoric and ideology." Quarterly Journal of Speech 66:1 (1980). 1-16.

References

1. ↑ McGee, Michael Calvin. "The 'ideograph': A link between rhetoric and ideology." Quarterly Journal of Speech 66:1 (1980). 1-16.
2. ↑ http://www.zimbio.com/pictures/iVWq26iWCLa/Bush+Hosts+Obama+Former+Presidents+White+House/AIYYLtxH7HC/George+W+Bush
3. ↑ http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/terrorism
4. ↑ Bush, George W. "President Bush Addresses the Nation." washingtonpost. The Washington Post Company, 20 September, 2001. Web. 16 April, 2015 http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/nation/specials/attacked/transcripts/bushaddress_092001.html
5. ↑ Obama, Barack H. "Remarks by the President on National Security." whitehouse Office of the Press, 21 May, 2009. Web. 16 April, 2015. https://www.whitehouse.gov/the_press_office/Remarks-by-the-President-On-National-Security-5-21-09/
6. ↑ Bellinger, John B III. "Legal Issues in the War on Terrorism, Section: 'War is an Appropriate Paradigm for the Conflict.'" U.S. Department of State. London School of Economics, 31 October, 2006. Web. 1 May, 2015 http://www.state.gov/s/l/2006/98861.htm
7. ↑ Bush, George W. "President Bush Addresses the Nation." washingtonpost. The Washington Post Company, 20 September, 2001. Web. 16 April, 2015 http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/nation/specials/attacked/transcripts/bushaddress_092001.html
8. ↑ Bush, George W. "President Bush Addresses the Nation." washingtonpost. The Washington Post Company, 20 September, 2001. Web. 16 April, 2015 http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/nation/specials/attacked/transcripts/bushaddress_092001.html
9. ↑ Bush, George W. "President Bush Addresses the Nation." washingtonpost. The Washington Post Company, 20 September, 2001. Web. 16 April, 2015 http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/nation/specials/attacked/transcripts/bushaddress_092001.html
10. ↑ Obama, Barack H. "Remarks by the President on National Security." whitehouse Office of the Press, 21 May, 2009. Web. 16 April, 2015. https://www.whitehouse.gov/the_press_office/Remarks-by-the-President-On-National-Security-5-21-09/
11. ↑ Obama, Barack H. "Remarks by the President on National Security." whitehouse Office of the Press, 21 May, 2009. Web. 16 April, 2015. https://www.whitehouse.gov/the_press_office/Remarks-by-the-President-On-National-Security-5-21-09/
12. ↑ Obama, Barack H. "Remarks by the President on National Security." whitehouse Office of the Press, 21 May, 2009. Web. 16 April, 2015. https://www.whitehouse.gov/the_press_office/Remarks-by-the-President-On-National-Security-5-21-09/
13. ↑ Tran, Mark. "Q&A: Torture and 'enhanced interrogation'." guardian 18, April 2008. Web. 27 April, 2015. [http://www.theguardian.com/world/2008/apr/18/usa.terrorism http://www.theguardian.com/world/2008/apr/18/usa.terrorism]