RHETORIC OF DEFEAT: CONVENTIONAL AND LANGUAGE ANALYSIS OF CONCESSION SPEECHES OF US PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONS (1996-2016)
The author analyses conventions of electoral concession speeches. The article highlights the ceremonial and formulaic character of concession. The concession and victory speech is a ritual in the US politics, described by Corcoran as a “rite of capitulation,” in which both candidates at the end of an election agree on the outcome, lend the legitimacy of the process, and start the political transition. Speeches by losing candidates, the chosen tone, length, message, and target audience - all of those attract attention. Besides being ceremonial, concession is of formulaic character. A list of recurring conventions is made up on the basis of the comparative analysis; the ways of individualization of such speeches are singled out. The author also tries to explain the necessity of concession from the point of view of the Americans through it is of non-binding character. Nevertheless waiting for about 8 hours for Hillary Clinton to deliver her concession speech, a CNN commentator claimed that the concession speech is often more important for the health of democracy than the victory speech. We can't agree that concession speech is nothing more than a graceful gesture that may be forgotten in a week: delivered at the peak of the nation's tension it appeals to general public and scholars time and again.