Presupposition in the discourse of political reconciliation The case of Obama's speech to the Islamic World from Cairo University

Document Type : Research in linguistic and literary studies

Abstract

The current paper investigates the use of presupposition in the discourse of political
reconciliation implied in Obama's Cairo University speech. Semantic presupposition triggers
are identified in the speech as establishing the taken-for-granted human values shared by the
speaker and his audience in Egypt and the Islamic world. Pragmatic presupposition is at play
to call upon the common mental images between America and the Islamic world and hence
setting a basis for reconciliation as something inevitable between the two conflicting sides
(America and The Islamic World)

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