Using Figurative Language in Public Speeches

What is going on in the political arena of the country is worse than a farce. The art form “farce” is used to delight people, not just make them shame on themselves. Though politicians are always been criticized by both laymen and scholars alike, and regarded as the “last resort of a scoundrel”, it was never been subjected to vehement criticism than now. The words and deeds of the leaders are being thoroughly examined by the 24/7 channels, and they make us laugh at the leaders. From these live streaming and discussions, we develop the idea that the politicians are as a class, bad. This commonsensical notion tries to hide the fact that the leaders are just the representatives of the people and belong to the many classes and creeds among them. If one has to say that the leaders who represent the people in the respective legislative bodies are damned corrupted, it is equal to say that the entire people as such corrupted. One way to criticize the wrongdoings of the present is to take references from the past and then glorify it. It can be either the most glorious, most celebrated, or the most discussed the great Indian Civilization or even the later on “national” leaders like Nehru-Gandhi era. It may be because there were not this 24/7 channels in those days or even that the media people were not as greedy as now. The pathetic thing is that leaders are not even dared to open their mouth. I am telling this specifically with regard to the latest development in Kerala politics. The leaders of the left are being questioned and examined for their threatening words in the public meetings and even a murder case has been registered against a leader. While mentioning this, I am not at all supporting the events and crimes related to it, but just trying to mention something about language, my subject of study; the language that are used in public speeches. The first time I had taken interest in the art of speech, oratory, is after reading an article by Sukumar Azhikkode, and at that time, I was convinced that it is an art like any other forms of entertainment. As of literature, oratory also can be used to delight and to teach or profess though the main aim of it is to profess. However, this art form, like any other forms, may have to use some “ingredients” to persuade. In poetry, they will make use of metaphors, rhetoric, hyperbole and other speech forms. Usually, in literature, these speech forms will be analyzed by literary critics and will take those meanings not in the actual meaning of it, but the literary value of it. Whether oratory, including political speeches, should be considered as an art or not, I don’t have any doubt in it. But when it comes to the part of analyzing the speeches, I do think that, though with apprehension, those news readers, who may not have any notion about the literary aspect of the oratory, can analyze these speeches and pass judgments on it. However, they should understand from their part, that it is a speech event, so the speaker may have to succeed in arousing the interest of the listener, make him feel and think. If the media understand this, more than half of the problems in the present day will dissolve.