Exploring Personal Deixis in Political Discourse: An analysis of Barack Obama's Farewell Address

Abstract

Personal deixis plays a key role in political discourse. Studying how it works and its role is relevant to current issues in political linguistics. This paper aims to analyze Barack Obama’s farewell address to understand how he used deictic expressions to convey messages of unity, democratic values, national identity, and his personal beliefs about American resilience and collective responsibility. The present study uses multiple research methods, including analysis, synthesis, interpretation, generalization, and abstraction, to explore the concept of personal deixis. The system analysis method is also used to examine the theoretical and practical aspects of political discourse. The main results of this study include identifying the characteristics of Barack Obama’s personal deixis, determining how often it is used, analyzing the purpose behind his use of personal pronouns in speech, and interpreting deixis as a key tool for engaging the audience. The study shows that in his speech, Barack Obama uses the strategy of self-presentation and effectively applies personal deixis to succeed in politics. The personal pronouns in his speech are key tools that help him connect with the audience, persuade them, and evoke the desired emotions. The findings also show that leaders use personal pronouns in political speech to create a sense of inclusion or exclusion, shaping group identity and public opinion. These results are helpful for linguists and experts studying political discourse, deixis, and strategies to influence the audience.